Paris, 06 December 2020 — The French government has announced earlier this week the launch of studies for the replacement of the FS “Charles de Gaulle” aircraft carrier by a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier by 2038.
The 302m long and 75,000 ton vessel will be powered by two K-22 220 megawatts nuclear reactors and equipped with a pair of US designed General Atomics EMALD electromagnetic catapults. Her carrier air wing will be composed of some 30 aircraft, including later block Rafale Ms, two E-2D Hawkeyes and presumably should include the first FCAS heavy multirole combat aircraft weighing some 30 tons each.
Cost of the sole vessel will certainly reach over €10 billion against some €5 billion faintheartedly advertised by the French minister of defence Florence Partly in order to disguise evolving military expenditures in the face of current French public debt amounting some 3,000 billions now!
Naval Group (the former DCNS and creator of the Scorpene submarine used by the Brazilian Navy, among other vessels) will be involved in this historic project with its major industrial partners Chantiers de l’Atlantique, TechnicAtome and Dassault Aviation co-designer of the FCAS along with Germany and Spain.
Naval Group’s know-how and skills will be fully mobilised to meet the French armed forces’ expectations. The President of the French Republic’s choice is now a major boost for the French defence industrial and technological base and the nuclear industry as this project will mobilise several hundred jobs in France, and then several thousand each year in the implementation phase.
The Chairman and CEO of Naval Group said: “We are delighted with the announcement by the President of the French Republic, which will enable France to maintain its position in the very restricted circle of major powers holding a nuclear aircraft carrier. This project will help develop jobs in the defence industrial and technological base and ensure the continuity of our skills in the current health and economic crisis. Naval Group, its partners and its entire ecosystem will enable the French Navy to benefit from the best naval systems for its flagship. We are committed, as an overall architect, to respond, together with our partners Chantiers de l’Atlantique and TechnicAtome, as well as Dassault Aviation, to the expression of needs of the French general armament directorate (DGA) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). Finally, this project will make it possible to develop innovation in the fields of propulsion and high added-value military systems, thus maintaining France’s technological lead and its position as a key geostrategic player. This is a huge pride for Naval Group to begin the building of the biggest warship France has ever built”.
