Future French aircraft carrier
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Image:2006 CVF STOVL.jpg
PA2 (Porte-Avions 2) is a planned new aircraft carrier developed for the French Navy by Thales Naval France and DCN from the Thales UK/BMT design for the future British aircraft carriers CV(F). The vessel will displace approximately 60,000 tonnes, will be based in Toulon, Var, France and will complement the current French carrier, FS Charles de Gaulle.
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Background
The previous French carriers, Foch and Clemenceau were completed in 1961 and 1963 respectively; the requirement for a replacement was identified in the mid-1970s. This replacement became the 35,500 tonne Charles de Gaulle, laid down in April 1989 at the DCN Brest naval shipyard. The carrier was completed in May 1994, however it was not not officially commissioned until 2001 due to a large number of problems. These included the need to lengthen the flight deck after aircraft trials, a broken propeller and vibration/noise problems. The French Navy was understood to be unwilling to proceed with another carrier of the same design and by 2003 the possibility of sharing the Royal Navy design emerged to fulfill the French requirement for a second carrier.
The requirement for the carriers was confirmed by Jacques Chirac in 2004 for the centennial of the Entente Cordiale and on January 26 2006 the defence ministers of France and Britain reached an agreement regarding cooperation on the design of their future carriers. France has agreed to pay the UK for access to the design due to the investment made to date. These payments are £30m immeditately, £25m in July 2006 and a further £45m if France decides to proceed with the project. Template:Ref
Design
An alliance of Thales and DCN will develop and build the aircraft carriers from the Thales/BMT design selected for the CVF. Thales and DCN have proposed a 275 m long, 58,000 tonnes variant of the CVF. While the UK in-service dates of 2012 and 2015 for their two carriers have been announced, the construction timetable for the French ship has not been disclosed although 2015 is rumoured. Charles de Gaulle requires refit and refuelling of its nuclear reactors around this time. Template:Ref
The vessels will be the largest and most powerful surface warships outside of the US Navy. The UK has chosen to continue to use STOVL aircraft from its new carrier, however the fact that they chose an "adaptable" design which could be reconfigured for future CTOL operation means that the design is suitable for the French Navy. They are designed to operate the Lockheed Martin F-35 (JSF) and the Dassault Rafale for standard version and the F-35B STOVL variant the initial UK version of the carrier. The vessels are expected to be capable of carrying 48 F-35s or a similar quantity of Rafales, four airborne-early-warning (AEW) aircraft and six support/anti-submarine helicopters. The crew will be about 600, only 15 more than the RN's current Invincible class, indicating the high level of automation being integrated into the ships' systems.
Propulsion
The price of accepting the British design is accepting a conventionally powered ship; the British government rejected nuclear propulsion as too costly. The idea of renouncing nuclear propulsion in this way is seen as a backward step for French technology. However, the numerous problems with the propulsion system of the FS Charles de Gaulle and the fact that the design was tailored to the Royal Navy's requirements leaves little choice.
The carrier's propulsion system will be Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) based on four Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines. The optimum location for the position of the main propulsion system is being examined, with maximising the hangar space below decks a major consideration. The range of the carrier will be 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km).
Construction
The hull is likely to be built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint Nazaire, and fitting out will be by DCN at Brest. The ships are likely to be based at Toulon naval base where two huge dry docks are available to accommodate even a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.
References
- Template:Note naval-technology.com Charles de Gaulle Nuclear Aircraft Carrier Accessed February 1, 2006
- Template:Note UK Ministry of Defence (Jan. 24, 2006) UK-French agreement on aircraft carriers Accessed March 26, 2006