France announces the launch of studies for new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

According to a press release published on December 8, 2020, the French President announced the launch of studies for the replacement of the French Navy Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier by a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier by 2038.
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Artist rendering of future aircraft carrier for the French navy. (Picture source Naval Group)

French company Naval Group is delighted with this decision and will be involved in this historic project with its major industrial partners Chantiers de l'Atlantique, TechnicAtome, and Dassault Aviation. Naval Group's know-how and skills will be fully mobilized to meet the French armed forces’ expectations. The President of the French Republic’s choice is a major boost for the French defense industrial and technological base and the nuclear industry as this project will mobilize several hundred jobs in France, and then several thousand each year in the implementation phase.

Pierre Eric Pommellet, 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 defense 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".

As the European leader in naval defense, Naval Group has for many decades ensured the technological superiority of the vessels of the French Navy and its international customers. Their operational excellence has been regularly demonstrated.

Among its many accomplishments, Naval Group has contributed to the design, construction and maintenance in operational condition of the three aircraft carriers of the French Navy: the Clémenceau, the Foch and the Charles de Gaulle. These ships have contributed to France's influence in many conflict areas around the world. Naval Group is one of a very small number of industrial companies capable of building aircraft carriers.

More specifically, Naval Group has also built and integrated, in partnership with the CEA and TechnicAtome, the two nuclear boilers on board the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, the first French aircraft carrier equipped with nuclear propulsion. This nuclear-powered vessel has proven its reliability and safety. Nuclear propulsion gives this ship considerable autonomy at sea and great flexibility of use.

Having entered active service in 2001, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will be in service until approximately 2038.

The French Marine Nationale aircraft carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R91) transits the Red Sea, April 15, 2019. (Picture source U.S. Navy)

Naval Group, as a system integrator and prime contractor for the French Navy's submarines and surface vessels, has developed advanced and rare skills. Among its expertise, Naval Group has skills in three key areas in particular: the activities of architect and overall prime contractor, of systems integrator of complex naval weapon systems, and concerning nuclear propulsion, the manufacture and assembly of reactors, and the maintenance in operational condition of nuclear boilers.

Naval Group also has unique expertise in Europe in the integration and implementation of an aircraft carrier equipped with catapults and landing brakes as well as her air group. Integrating more than 200,000 pieces of equipment in 2,500 premises, producing more than 10,000 drawings, managing more than 3,000 contracts, and assembling 1,200 km of cables and 300 km of piping requires cutting-edge expertise. This expertise also covers the integration of the combat and navigation systems. Fully interconnected with allies units, the combat system enables to prepare, coordinate and lead the aircraft carrier’s actions and those of the naval aviation group in real-time. The combat system also ensures the ship self-defense and the security of internal as well as external communications.

In addition, the Naval Group masters the implementation of fighter aviation on aircraft carriers with catapults and arresting strands. The aircraft is the central element of the aircraft carrier, whose main function is that of a mobile airbase capable of operating on all the seas of the globe.

In addition, Naval Group has infrastructures dedicated to these areas of expertise. For nuclear propulsion, for example, there is a test platform for turbo-alternator modules at Naval Group site in Nantes-Indret. The company also has integration platforms for combat systems and control systems, and a unique tool for simulating flows on the flight deck of aeronautical munitions combined with virtual reality visualization.

The development and construction of the new generation aircraft carrier represent an investment of nearly twenty years, from 2021 to 2038. After a sketch phase, Naval Group and its industrial partners will now be in charge of carrying out a two-year preliminary design study, which will be followed by detailed design studies that will finally precede the development and construction of the aircraft carrier, a product of rare complexity.

The nuclear component of the propulsion, the implementation of onboard aviation and the operation of the new-generation aircraft carrier will lead Naval Group to reinforce key skills of engineers, technicians and workers at all Naval Group sites: Lorient, Nantes-Indret, Toulon, Angoulême-Ruelle and Brest, as well as those of its major partners Chantiers de l’Atlantique, TechnicAtome and Dassault Aviation.