Summary and Key Points: The French Navy's Charles de Gaulle (CDG) is the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier outside the U.S. Navy's fleet. While smaller than the U.S. Nimitz and Ford classes, the CDG remains a formidable warship, equipped with a steam catapult system and an air wing comprising Dassault Rafael M strike fighters, E-2C Hawkeye early warning aircraft, and helicopters.
-Despite initial design and funding challenges, the carrier has undergone significant refits and upgrades, enhancing its capabilities.
-The CDG has actively participated in various operations, including Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria, solidifying its role as the French Navy's flagship.
The Second World War saw the advent of aircraft carriers as the premier warship of the seas. Since then, the U.S. Navy has established itself as the undeniable carrier powerhouse, with 11 nuclear-powered supercarriers in its fleets.
Other navies, however, have not neglected this important component of naval warfare. In particular, the French Navy is the only other navy in the world to field a nuclear-powered carrier, the Charles de Gaulle (CDG).
Though not as big as the Nimitz or Ford classes of the U.S. Navy, the CDG is still a formidable warship. She boasts a steam catapult system only slightly smaller than those found on U.S. carriers which is still capable of launching F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and C-2 Greyhounds.
Her air wing consists of Dassault Rafael M strike fighters, E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft, and numerous helicopters. She has carried these aircraft on numerous deployments and in combat operations in Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria.
The Charles de Gaulle has its roots in the 1980s. France had completed two carriers in the 1960s, the Clemenceau and Foch, and was looking ahead at their replacements. The resultant design was a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with an angled deck and steam catapults. This was still a relatively novel configuration, which allowed for simultaneous launching and recovery of larger and heavier aircraft and increased the safety of carrier air operations.
Following several years of design, during which politicians squabbled over her name - she was to be called the Richelieu - construction began in the Brest shipyard in 1987. An early 1990’s recession only worsened funding prospects, and completion was delayed.
Work was stopped no fewer than four times during this period due to funding issues. Construction was finally completed in the late 1990s and the ship was put to sea for sea trials by the end of the decade. Tests found that her flight deck was too short to accommodate the proposed air wing, specifically the E-2C Hawkeye. Upon revelation to the public, this news caused an outcry as it was a near exact repeat of the process undergone on the previous two carriers.
Since her completion, the carrier has undergone two major periods of refits and upgrades, in 2007 and 2017. Each time involved a refueling of the nuclear reactor as well as upgrading the support and communications systems for the embarked air wing. The 2007 overhaul replaced her propellers - she had been using spares from the older Clemenceau since her launch due to one of the brand-new propellers breaking.
Following her commissioning, the Charles de Gaulle has participated in numerous operations and deployments. In 2001 and 2002, she supported U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan from the Indian Ocean. She was involved in the no-fly zone over Libya in 2011 and was an integral part of the campaign to defeat the Islamic State in 2015. Through it all, the CDG has proven to be a capable aircraft carrier and deserves to be the flagship of the French fleet.
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
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