"Free France"Macron presents the nuclear-powered super aircraft carrier

It will be called“Free France”la futura record-breaking aircraft carrierwhose construction has just begun. The French president announced it with great emphasisEmmanuel Macronvisiting the construction siteNaval Groupin Indret, near Nantes (west), where the two will be builtnuclear reactorsof the ship.

“The aircraft carrier in the spirit of General de Gaulle”

“The French spirit of General de Gaulle it is the heart of our action, moved by a spirit ofresistenceto stayfreeindomitable, until victory. Aindependenceto be conquered at all costs. United and without divisions. Power, independence, resistance: by serving the homeland, we will be victorious,” Macron said.

The new giant of the seas

It is at the Indret-Nantes construction site that the first phase of this colossal project beganconstruction project del nuovo giant of the seaswhat will happen toCharles de Gaullein 2038. Its hull will instead be built in Saint-Nazaire starting from 2031. The long-awaited announcement by Macron, who in his speech paid homage to theNational Navyoperational for 400 years, comes in the context ofwar between USA, Israel and Iranwhich inflames the wholeMiddle Eastand the Gulf countries.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

“Our aircraft carrier represents France, it will be anuclear propulsion, digital e ad high security per contrastare cyber attacksconceived for the evolution ofplanes e dei latest generation drones. He will be able to adapt to the rapidstechnological changes“, declared the owner of the Elysée in his speech to Indret, underlining that “thisnew generation aircraft carrierit is the fruit of a great history, a history that has lasted for over 100 years. Each aircraft carrier represents a human, technical and industrial achievement.”

The technical characteristics of the aircraft carrier

“Our next aircraft carrier will be a long one310 meters. It will have a displacement of80 thousand tons. It will be equipped withtwo nuclear reactors. Its tonnage will be 1.8 times greater than that of the Charles de Gaulle”, explained the president. “These data demonstrate the scale of our ambitions, as I reiterated on Île Longue earlier this month. Anuclear-powered aircraft carrierit is an essential component of oursdeterrence capacity“he insisted.

Macron, financing defense means freedom

“L’war economyit is not a horizon. Financing thedefenseis to finance oursfreedom“, argued Macron, hoping for the same momentum in the context ofEuropean Unionso that it “produces for itself, for theUkrainian theaterwhich will not end tomorrow, and for our partners also inMiddle Eastproducing faster to get there on time.”

The cost of the aircraft carrier: 10 billion euros

Last December, the French president authorized the construction of this onenew generation aircraft carriercompleting aproject under developmentfrom 2018. This new oneflagshipwhich represents ainvestment of 10 billion eurosin about twenty years, it has already been greeted with superlatives.

Another perspective concerns thenuclearwhich represents, as highlighted by Macron, oneprofessional outletfor “the young men and women we need”, hopefullyuniversity and professional training reforms per coinvolgerli nei future projectsat every level, both entrepreneurial and at the top of security, to guarantee “theindependence of France“.

The video of the presentation of the new aircraft carrier

“The largest military ship ever built in France”

According to what was declared by the Elysée, “it will be therelargest military shipnever built in France, with a displacement of80 thousand tonscompared to Charles de Gaulle’s 42,000″. Only two countries in the world havenuclear-powered aircraft carrier: gli United States – con 11 navi – e la France. China and India use conventional propulsion, while other countries, such asUnited Kingdom e Italiaare equipped withvertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft carrier. These characteristics will make the future aircraft carrier “France Libre” a symbol ofFrench military powerat a time when Macron is placing particular emphasis ondefense spendingas demonstrated by his recent speech onnuclear deterrencewhich highlights the expansion ofFrench arsenal.

The aircraft carrier will have a launch capacity of 40 aircraft

The future ship “will be capable of bothlaunch and recover aircraft“the presidency stressed. Currently, on most aircraft carriers, you launch an aircraft and then reconfigure the flight deck for recovery, which limits operational capacity,” the president’s office said. Withthree launch tracksinstead of the current two, will also maximize thethrowing ability dei 40 aircraft embarked.

The Achilles heel of the aircraft carrier

The only negative note, the French media report: theelectromagnetic technology delle future catapultwill come from American societyGeneral Atomicsrepresenting a potential source ofvulnerability. “The choice has been made, and it is an economic choice to work with themUnited Stateswhich is perfectly logical, but obviously there are other plans, apiano Bin case we were to encounter particular constraints”, assured a presidential advisor.

Adaptability and the role of drones

The vessel shall also be “adaptable” to accommodate all types ofaircraftthat will be used during its operational life, as well as idronesthe new onemilitary challengeemerged fromwars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

“We cannot simply replicate an instrument designed in the middle of the last century,” commented the Chief of Defense Staff, General Fabien Mandon. “We will needdrones capable of penetrating enemy defensesbe theycombat drones o remote-controlled ammunition launch drones, drones for in-flight refueling, surveillance drones“, added Admiral Nicolas Vaujour.