French President Emmanuel macron, speaking on December 8, 2020 at the head enterprise of the French nuclear industrial Corporation Framatome in Le Creusot, announced the beginning of the practical implementation of the Porte Avion Nouvelle Generation (PANG) program for the design and construction of a promising aircraft carrier for the French Navy, and that this ship will be equipped with a nuclear power plant.
Preliminary official image of the promising French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Porte Avion Nouvelle Generation (PANG) (C) Naval Group
The new aircraft carrier is to be commissioned into the French Navy in 2038 to replace the only French aircraft carrier since 2001, the R 91 Charles de Gaulle. President macron said in Le Creusot:
"As you know, Charles de Gaulle will end service in 2038. That's why I decided that the future aircraft carrier that our country and our Navy will be armed with will be nuclear, just like the Charles de Gaulle. Your factory in Le Creusot, which throughout its long history has produced the equipment necessary for our fleet, will produce, among other things, several main parts of the nuclear reactor of the future aircraft carrier, forging and processing them right here [ ... ] with This choice, we confirm France's desire to preserve its strategic independence."
In connection with Macron's speech, the French Ministry of the armed forces and the French shipbuilding Association Naval Group, which will be the lead contractor for the PANG program, published official render images of the promising French aircraft carrier. However, it should be borne in mind that, apparently, the project itself is still at the pre-design stage, and the actual design of the ship will begin only in 2021.
The approximate construction schedule for the ship includes the start of construction in 2025 with the launch of the aircraft carrier for testing in 2036 and the introduction of the French Navy in 2038. It was previously announced that the construction of the ship will be carried out on a contract basis in the dry dock of the largest French shipyard Chantiers de l'atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, with the production of part of the hull sections at the shipyards of the Naval Group.
The new aircraft carrier is expected to be equipped with a deck-based version of a promising European fighter of a new generation, created under the Future Combat Air System (FCAS. - FR. Système de combat aérien du futur - SCAF) program under the leadership of France and Germany, with the role of Dassault Aviation as the lead contractor. The aircraft carrier will use a system of horizontal catapult take-off and horizontal landing using an air finisher. The aircraft equipment will be American, including three 90-meter emals electromagnetic catapults and General Atomics Corporation AAG air finishers used on the new American Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear aircraft carriers.
The new French aircraft carrier, according to preliminary data, will be much larger than the Charles de Gaulle, and have a total displacement of about 75 thousand tons and a maximum length of 300 m and a width of 80 m (Charles de Gaulle has 42 thousand tons of total displacement and a length of 261 m).
The ship's power plant will include two new type K22 nuclear reactors with a thermal capacity of 220 MW each and three shaft lines with a total capacity of 80 MW, with propellers. The total generated capacity, including electric power, will be 110 MW. The maximum speed of 26-27 knots.
The hangar area will be about 5000 square meters and it will be provided with two onboard 40-ton aircraft lifts. The flight deck area is 16 thousand square meters. the Ship can carry 30 advanced FCAS (SCAF) fighters, two or three Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye AWACS and control aircraft, and a number of UAVS and helicopters. The ship's crew will be up to 2000 people, including the personnel of the air group.
Common renderings of the ship show the presence of a single small island superstructure, shifted to the stern, similar to the superstructure of American nuclear-powered aircraft carriers such as Gerald R. Ford. The ship will be equipped with a Thales SeaFire radar system with four fixed AFARS on the superstructure, and for self-defense is armed with a PAAMS SAM with MBDA Aster series anti-aircraft missiles, and, judging by the renderings, several 40-mm Thales/Nexter RapidFire anti-aircraft artillery systems.
Preliminary official image of the promising French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Porte Avion Nouvelle Generation (PANG) (C) Naval Group
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Preliminary official images of the promising French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Porte Avion Nouvelle Generation (PANG) (C) French Ministry of the armed forces and Naval Group
