According to a tweet published by the French Navy on April 13, 2022, the Navy has released the first video about the future French aircraft carrier (PA-NG), "the new generation aircraft carrier".
Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link
Artistic rendering of the future French aircraft carrier (Picture source: French Navy)
The French Navy is actively planning for a future aircraft carrier and new flagship. It is known in French as Porte-avions de nouvelle génération (PA-Ng) for "new generation aircraft carrier".
Construction of the PA-Ng is expected to begin around 2025 and it will enter service in 2038; the year the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is due to be retired. The ship will be nuclear-powered and feature the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) catapult system.
In October 2018, French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly announced the start of a second carrier program, as a replacement for Charles de Gaulle.
The aircraft carrier will have a displacement of 7500 tons, a length of 305 meters, and a beam of 40 meters (131 ft 3 in). She will have two elevators.
She will be equipped with the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) which is a type of aircraft launching system developed by General Atomics for the United States Navy. The system launches carrier-based aircraft by means of a catapult employing a linear induction motor rather than the conventional steam piston.
The PA-Ng will carry aircraft and helicopters including E-2 Hawkeye early-warning fixed-wing, 30 Dassault Rafale fighter jets, or FCAS (French: Système de combat aérien du futur; SCAF), Airbus Helicopters H160M, and NHIndustries NH90 helicopters.
