The ''Porte-avions de nouvelle génération'' (PANG; "new generation aircraft carrier") is planned aircraft carrier for French Navy. Construction of the PANG is expected to begin around 2031 and it is projected to enter service in about 2038; the year the aircraft carrier is due to be retired. The ship will be

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

and will feature the

Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) is a type of electromagnetic catapult system developed by General Atomics for the United States Navy. The system launches carrier-based aircraft by means of a catapult employing a linear in ...

(EMALS) and

Advanced Arresting Gear The Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) is a type of arresting gear developed by General Atomics for the U.S. Navy's newest ''Gerald R. Ford''-class aircraft carriers. It was deployed in 2017 on the lead ship of the class, the USS ''Gerald R. Ford'' ...

(AAG).

History

Context

The current French aircraft carrier, the nuclear-powered ''Charles de Gaulle'', entered service on 18 May 2001. As the only aircraft carrier of the French Navy, the ship's maintenance periods leave France without an available aircraft carrier. As a result the PA2 project (French: Porte-Avions 2, "Aircraft Carrier 2") started in 2003 to study the feasibility of another carrier based on the design of the British ''Queen Elizabeth''-class. The PA2 project was suspended in 2009 and ultimately cancelled in 2013. In October 2018, French Minister of the Armed Forces

Florence Parly Florence Parly (; born 8 May 1963) is a French politician who served as Minister of the Armed Forces (France), Minister of the Armed Forces under President of the French Republic, President Emmanuel Macron from 2017 to 2022. A former member of th ...

announced the start of a second carrier programme, this time as replacement for ''Charles de Gaulle''. The military planning legislation for 2019-2025 (''Loi de programmation militaire 2019-2025'') defined a 18-month, €40M study phase, to allow the President to decide on the main characteristics of the programme by 2020. In May 2020, during a visit to

Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire, ...

, Parly stated that the new carrier would be built in

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...

—as expected, since it is the only dry dock in France capable of harbouring ships of that size. Architecture, propulsion options and number of ships were originally to be decided by President Macron in July 2020, to allow him to make the announcement at

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

. However, on 6 July 2020, a governmental reshuffle put the

Castex government The Castex government ( French: ''gouvernement Castex'') was the forty-second government of the French Fifth Republic, formed on 3 July 2020 and headed by Jean Castex as Prime Minister under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. It was dissolved on ...

in charge, forcing to delay the Defence Council to later in the year. During a visit to the

Framatome Framatome () is a French nuclear reactor business. It is owned by Électricité de France (EDF) (80.5%) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (19.5%). The company first formed in 1958 to license Westinghouse's pressurized water reactor (PWR) designs ...

site at

Le Creusot Le Creusot () is a Communes of France, commune and industrial town in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department, Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, eastern France. The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerl ...

on 8 December 2020, President Macron officially announced the start of the PANG programme, and selection of

nuclear propulsion Nuclear propulsion includes a wide variety of propulsion methods that use some form of nuclear reaction as their primary power source. Many aircraft carriers and submarines currently use uranium fueled nuclear reactors that can provide propulsio ...

for the new ship. In 2022,

Naval Group Naval Group is a major French industrial Corporate group, group specializing in navy, naval defense industry, defense design, development and shipbuilding, construction. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Heir to the French naval dockyards ...

released new renderings of the carrier that included a revised island structure.

Construction

In May 2020, Defence minister Florence Parly stated that the PANG would be built in Saint-Nazaire at

. Preliminary design work on new 220 MW K22 nuclear reactors to power the ship was completed in 2023. A production contract for the ship itself is anticipated in about 2025 with hull construction to begin in about 2031. Sea trials are projected to begin in around 2035.

References

{{Reflist Proposed aircraft carriers Aircraft carriers of the French Navy Nuclear-powered ships of the French Navy

History

Context

Construction

See also

References