In September 1970, the French government approved the construction of two nuclear carriers to replace the class Clemenceau that existed since the '50s. However, the CVN program had already been through a lot of political conflicts and technical issues related to the ship and its aircraft. The first ship of its class, the Charles de Gaulle, was delivered in April '89. However, it didn't become operational until May 2001 due to budget cuts and some construction problems. In 2003, the ship was still not fully operational and hadn't an aircraft team. Today, it is the flagship of the French navy and took its name from the French political and general Charles de Gaulle. The carrier is the only non-nuclear outside the United States.
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Η απόλυτη σύγκριση μεταξύ των Queen Elizabeth και Ford Class
The Issues
When the carrier was finished, it wasn't able to deploy the E-2C Hawkey aircraft due to important mistakes on the calculated dimensions. In the period between 1999 and 2000, the flight decks were modified accordingly, and other important gear was added. Today, the carrier operates modern Rafale multi-purpose fighters that are specially designed for naval use. Before the Rafales, the French navy was operating a team of 20 Super Etendard.
The Second Aircraft Carrier
There were some possibilities for a second (possible non-nuclear) carrier of the Charles de Gaulle class. The French Navy requested one, but the government and people weren't convinced. The ship would probably be named Richelieu or Clemenceau, however, it was never created due to insufficient budget. At the exact time, neither the government nor people wanted a second carrier.
Charles de Gaulle is armed with a hangar for 20-25 aircraft (half the team) and carries the same reactor units with the ballistic submarines of the Le Trimphant class. The reactor provides the ship five years of sailing at 25 knots without the need for refueling.
Lately, they have been some concepts of a second French carrier, similar to the British class Queen Elizabeth. However, the plans were eventually abandoned.
