President Macron Announces Start of New French Nuclear Aircraft Carrier Program (PANG, le porte-avions de nouvelle génération)

France will build a new, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to replace its Charles de Gaulle carrier by 2038

French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday, 8 December, officially green-lighted the construction of a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as part of the PANG program (PANG, le porte-avions de nouvelle génération - the new generation aircraft carrier). The future flagship of the French Navy is intended to replace the existing FS Charles de Gaulle (R91) aircraft carrier around 2038.

The announcement was made during Macron’s visit to French nuclear power company Framatome, which designs and supplies nuclear steam systems and services.

“Charles de Gaulle, as you know, will come to the end of its life in 2038. This is why I have decided that the future aircraft carrier that will equip our country and our navy will be nuclear-powered like the Charles de Gaulle,” Macron said. “Your plant in Le Creusot, which has been producing parts essential to our navy for a long time, will produce, among others, several major parts of the nuclear boiler of the future aircraft carrier by forging and machining them right here. … By these choices, we confirm France’s desire to preserve its strategic autonomy.”

The new French aircraft carrier will be equiped by electro-magnetic catapults, and American-made, and the ship will be designed to accommodate next-generation warplanes and serve until around 2080.

They didn’t provide a price tag but French media estimate it will cost around 7 billion euros ($8.5 billion).

It will have a length of 990 feet, a width of 130 feet and a displacement of 75,000 tons. The first steel cut is set for 2025, while sea trials are slated to begin in 2036 and commissioning with the French Navy in 2038, which matches the expected decommissioning of the Charles de Gaulle.

According the Naval News new aircraft carrier specifications are follow:

• Nuclear-powered (CVN) with two K22 reactors (2 x 220 megawatts thermal)

• Length between 940 and 970 feet

• Full load displacement around 70,000 – 75,000 tons

• Maximum speed: 26 to 27 knots (similar to Charles de Gaulle)

• Propulsive power would be around 80 megawatts delivered to three or four shaft lines

• Total power around 110 megawatts, including the electrical plant

• Future air wing: 32 next-generation fighters with two to three E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes and a yet-to-be-determined number of unmanned carrier air vehicles

• Two side elevators with 40 tons lifting capacity

• Three 300-foot electromagnetic catapults (EMALS) by General Atomics

• Flight deck: 3.9 acres

• Aircraft hangar: 54,000 square feet

• Crew: 900 and 1,080 sailors (not including the air element of 550 to 620 sailors) with higher comfort compared to Charles de Gaulle.

• Thales SeaFire radar

• Principal Anti Air with MBDA Aster surface-to-air missiles for self-defense

Photos (c) Alain BOLLERY