NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Future French aircraft carrier

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 Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers. The vessel will displace approximately 70,000-75,000 tonnes, will be based in Toulon, Var, France and will complement the current French carrier, Charles de Gaulle. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Civil_and_Naval_Ensign_of_France. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... 2009 (MMIX) will be a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2011 (MMXI) will be a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2015 (MMXV) will be a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point, or a point alongside the ship at the mid-point of its length. ... The draft of a ships hull is the vertical distance from the bottom of the hull to the waterline. ... Aster 15 SYLVER launchers on the Charles de Gaulle The SYLVER is a vertical missile launcher designed by DCN. The primary application of the launcher has been the MBDA Aster missile. ... Aster is a family of surface-to-air missiles manufactured by Eurosam, a European consortium consisting of MBDA France, MBDA Italy (combined 66%) and the Thales Group (33%). // The Aster family was developed to perform three distinct missions: Naval autodefence â€” using the Aster 15 surface-to-air anti-missile missile... The 20 mm modÃ¨le F2 gun is a naval defence weapon in usage in the French Navy. ... The Rafale is a French twin-engine delta-wing multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. ... A U.S. Navy E-2C Hawkeye of (VAW-113) launches from one of four steam-powered catapults onboard USS . ... The NHI NH90 is a twin-engine, ten-ton multi-role helicopter manufactured by NHIndustries, a company established by Agusta, Eurocopter and Stork Fokker Aerospace. ... Four aircraft carriers, (bottom-to-top) Principe de Asturias, amphibious assault carrier USS Wasp, supercarrier USS Forrestal and light V/STOL carrier HMS Invincible, showing size differences of late 20th century carriers An aircraft carrier is a warship designed to deploy and recover aircraft â€” in effect acting as a sea... Four aircraft carriers, (bottom-to-top) Principe de Asturias, amphibious assault carrier USS Wasp, supercarrier USS Forrestal and light V/STOL carrier HMS Invincible, showing size differences of late 20th century carriers An aircraft carrier is a warship designed to deploy and recover aircraft â€” in effect acting as a sea... The French Navy, officially called the National Navy (French: Marine Nationale) is the maritime arm of the French military. ... The Thales Group (Euronext: HO) is a global electronics company serving aerospace, defence, and information technology markets worldwide. ... Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) is based in France and is one of Europes leading shipbuilders. ... The first Royal Navy aircraft carriers to be named the Queen Elizabeth class were the proposed CVA-01 design from the 1960s, which would have been a two ship class, to have been called HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Duke of Edinburgh. ... Panorama of Toulon area. ... Var is a dÃ©partement of southern France. ... Charles de Gaulle (R91) is the only serving French aircraft carrier and is the flagship of the French Navy (Marine Nationale). ...

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 40,600 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 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 fulfil the French requirement for a second carrier. The Foch (R 99) was the sister-ship of the Clémenceau. ... The Clémenceau (R98), oftem affectuously called le Clém, was the 8th aircraft carrier of the French Navy. ... Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) is based in France and is one of Europes leading shipbuilders. ... Brest is a city in Brittany, or the Bretagne rÃ©gion, north-west France, sous-prÃ©fecture of the FinistÃ¨re dÃ©partement. ...

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 were £30m in January 2006, £25m in July 2006 and a further £45m if France decides to proceed with the project.^[2] Jacques RenÃ© Chirac (born 29 November 1932) is a French politician and a former President of France. ... The Entente Cordiale (cordial understanding) is a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and France. ... is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

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 283 m long, 75,000 tonnes variant of the CVF. While the UK in-service dates of 2014 and 2016 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. ^[3] The Thales Group (Euronext: HO) is a global electronics company serving aerospace, defence, and information technology markets worldwide. ... Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) is based in France and is one of Europes leading shipbuilders. ...

The UK has chosen to continue to use STOVL aircraft for its new carrier; however, the fact that they chose an "adaptable" design which could be reconfigured for future CATOBAR operation means that the design is suitable for the French Navy. The French version is designed to operate the Dassault Rafale, the E-2C Hawkeye and the NH-90. It is a CATOBAR design, and the catapult used will be of the same models as installed on the Nimitz class supercarriers, C13-2 steam catapult, 90m long. The vessels are expected to be capable of carrying over 32 Rafales, three Hawkeye and five NH-90 support/anti-submarine helicopters. The crew will be about 1650, instead of 1950 in the Charles de Gaulle, indicating the high level of automation being integrated into the ships' systems. STOVL is an acronym for Short Take Off and Vertical Landing. ... CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take Off But Arrested Recovery) is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier. ... The logo of the Dassault Rafale program. ... The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is the United States Navys all-weather, aircraft carrier-based tactical warning and control system aircraft. ... The NHI NH90 is a twin-engine, ten-ton multi-role helicopter manufactured by NHIndustries, a company established by Agusta, Eurocopter and Stork Fokker Aerospace. ... CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take Off But Arrested Recovery) is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier. ... The Nimitz-class supercarriers are a line of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the US Navy, and are the largest capital ships in the world. ... USS Enterprise, a supercarrier, and the conventionally-sized aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle A Supercarrier is a ship belonging to the largest class of aircraft carrier. ...

Island

The ship will have two islands: one devoted to ship navigation, and the other to air operations. This allows optimal placement of bridges both tasks: navigation calls for a bridge placed at the bow (like on the Charles De Gaulle), while air operations are made easier with a bridge placed at the aft (as seen on the US Nimitz class). Charles de Gaulle (R91) is the only serving French aircraft carrier and is the flagship of the French Navy (Marine Nationale). ... The Nimitz-class supercarriers are a line of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the US Navy, and are the largest capital ships in the world. ...

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 has been alleged as a backward step for French technology. However, because design was tailored to the Royal Navy's requirements meant no choice for France to use nuclear-powered propulsion. A conventional propulsion system was the only option. 2007 presidential candidate Philippe de Villiers favoured building a second CDG-class aircraft carrier, however, Nicolas Sarkozy, who favoured the CVF plan, won the 2007 election. Nuclear propulsion can include a wide variety of methods, the commonality of which is the use of some form of nuclear reaction as their primary power source. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ...

The carrier's propulsion system will be Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) based on two 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). Rolls-Royce MT30 The Rolls-Royce MT (Marine Trent) is a marine gas turbine based on Rolls-Royces Trent 800 aero engine. ... This machine has a single-stage centrifugal compressor and turbine, a recuperator, and foil bearings. ...

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. The Batillus oil tanker at the end of its construction in Saint-Nazaire, being refueled by the Port-Vendres Chantiers de lAtlantique is one of the worlds largest shipyards, based in Saint-Nazaire, France. ... Location within France Saint-Nazaire (Breton: Sant-Nazer), is a town and commune in the Loire-Atlantique dÃ©partement of France, of which it is a sous-prÃ©fecture. ... Brest is a city in Brittany, or the Bretagne rÃ©gion, north-west France, sous-prÃ©fecture of the FinistÃ¨re dÃ©partement. ... Panorama of Toulon area. ... The Nimitz-class supercarriers are a line of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service with the US Navy, and are the largest capital ships in the world. ...

Ship Naming

It has been proposed to name the aircraft carrier Richelieu, after Cardinal Richelieu, which was the name originally intended for the Charles de Gaulle. ^{[citation needed]} However, the name of the ship has not been decided yet.^{[citation needed]} Cardinal Richelieu was the French chief minister from 1624 until his death in 1642. ...

References

is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Contents

Background

Design

Island

Propulsion

Construction

Ship Naming

References

See also

Contents

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Design

Island

Propulsion

Construction

Ship Naming

References

See also

Background