FS Charles de Gaulle - Definition and Overview

Career

Builder	DCN, Brest
Power Plant	Two K15 Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) two shafts
Length	261.5 m overall
Flight Deck Width	64 m
Beam	31.5 m
Displacement	40,500 tons full load
Speed	27 knots
Catapults	Steam (the same models as installed on the Nimitz-class supercarriers).
Aircrafts	40 aircrafts, among which Rafale Super Etendard E-2C Hawkeye SA365 Dauphin helicopters.
Complement	Ship's Company: 1,150 Air Wing: 600
Armament	Four 8 cell SYLVER launchers carrying the MBDA Aster 15 air to air missile. Two 6 cell Sadral launchers carrying Mistral short range missiles Eight Giat 20F2 20mm cannons.
Date Deployed	April 2001.

She is the flagship of the French navy. Her complement of Dassault Rafale and E-2 Hawkeye, as well as state-of-the-art electronics and Aster missiles, give her offensive power unseen before in France.

History

Construction

The carrier replaced the Foch conventionally powered aircraft carrier in 2001. The Clémenceau and Foch were completed in 1961 and 1963 respectively; the requirement for a replacement was identified in the mid 1970s.

The hull was laid down in April 1989 at the DCN Brest Naval shipyard. The carrier was completed in May 1994 and at 35,500 tonnes was the largest warship launched in western Europe since HMS Ark Royal in 1950.

She was baptised Richelieu in 1986, after the famous French politician Armand-Jean du Plessis, Cardinal and Duc de Richelieu (following a traditional name for capital ships in the French Navy, see battleship Richelieu for instance), but was rebaptised to Charles de Gaulle the year after by Prime Minister of the time Jacques Chirac.

Spying incident

In 1993, a group of MI6 officers posing as engineers were discovered inspecting the vessel during its construction. It is believed they were evaluating the method of shielding the nuclear reactors.

Trials and technical problems

The Charles de Gaulle entered sea trials in 1999 which identified the need to extend the flight deck to safely operate the E-2C Hawkeye. This operation induced a bad perception in the population, though the same operation had been performed on both the Foch and the Clemenceau when F-8_Crusader aircrafts had been introduced, and that the 5 million francs for the extension were 0,025% of the total budget for the Charles de Gaulle project.

On the 28th of february 2000, a nuclear reactor trial triggered the combustion of additional isolation elements, producing a smoke incident.

During the night of the 9th and 10th of November 2000, in the Western Atlantic, en route toward Norfolk, the port propeller broke, and the ship had to return to Toulon to replace the faulty element. The following investigations shown similar structural defaults in the spare propellers: bubbles in the one-piece cupro-aluminium alliage propellers near the center. As a temporary solution, the less advanced propellers of the Foch and the Clemenceau were used, limiting the maximal speed to 24 knots, instead of the contractual 27 knots (this does not affect air operations).

On the 5th of March 2001, the Charles de Gaulle went back to the sea with two older propellers, and sailed 25,2 knots on her trials.

Between July and October, the Charles de Gaulle had to be refitted once more due to abnormal noises near the starboard propeller up to 100 dB, which rendered the aft part uninhabitable.

On the 18th of May 2001, the Charles de Gaulle was officially commisionned, somewhat tainted with a reputation as a financial black hole and as a bit of a lemon.

Active Service

Refitting

On the 16 of September 2001, sligthly abnormal radioactivity levels aboard the Charles de Gaulle, probably due to a faulty isolation element, were reported by the French press.

While the USA were preparing their retaliation for the attack of the 11th of September 2001 in the form of "Operation Enduring Freedom", the media complained about the lack of deployable French military power. At the same time, the Defence Commission reported the maintainance of the Fleet to be substandard. In this context, the Charles de Gaulle, then under repairs, was again object of criticism, former president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing mentioning a "half-aircraft-carrier".

Liaison 16

On the 11th of October 2001, the Cassard frigate, four AWACS aircrafts and the Charles de Gaulle were involved in a successful trial of the "Liaison 16" high-bandwidth secure data network. The network allows real-time monitoring of the airspace from the South of England to the Mediteranean Sea. The collected data were also transmited in real time to the Jean Bart through the older "Liaison 11" system.

Gas incident

On the 8th of November, a sailor performing a routine maintainance task lost counsciousness due to a toxic gas leak. A non-commissioned officer attempted to rescue him and collapsed as well. They were immediately rescued by the onboard medical team and sent to Toulon Hospital. Both survived.

Afganistan : Mission Héracles

On the 21st of November 2001, France decided that the Charles de Gaulle would be sent to the Indian Ocean in the context of the UN operations against Afganistan.

The task force 473, with 2900 men under command of contre-amiral François Cluzel sailed out on the 1st of December. It was composed of the nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, frigates La Motte-Picquet, Jean de Vienne and Jean Bart, the nuclear attack submarine Rubis, the tanker Meuse and the aviso Commandant Ducuing

A rare occurance of a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea. From the upper left to the bottom right: ITS Maestrale (F 570), FS De Grasse (D 612), USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), USS Port Royal (CG 73), FS Charles de Gaulle (R 91), HMS Ocean (L 12), FS Surcouf (F 711), USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67), HNLMS Van Amstel (F 831) and ITS Luigi Durand de la Penne (D 560) (18th of April 2002).

The 17th of December 2001, task force 473 was integrated in an international force, siding with the US Théodore Roosevelt and John C. Stennis aeronaval groups, and the Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi. The force included over one hundred French, US, Canadian, British, German, Italian, Dutch, Autralian, Spanish and Japanese ships, under a centralised inter-allied command in Bahreïn.

The Super Etendard carried out their first missions above Afganistan on the 19th, executing reconnaissance and bombing missions, covering over 3000 kilometres. Overall they carried out 140 missions, with an average of 12 every day, dodging five Stinger missiles.

On the 18th of February 2002, a Helios observation satelite spotted abnormal activities near Gardez. The next day, after US Special Forces in the region confirmed the observations, the Charles de Gaulle launched two reconnaissance Super Etendards. The 20th, British and US forces entered the valley, and on the 2nd of March, "Operation Anaconda" began.

In March, Super Etendards and 6 Mirage 2000 aircrafts carried out airstrikes against targets related to Al-Qaïda. A few targets suggested by US forces were denied out of fear to hit civilians. Nevertheless, French involvement was complimented by the US president Georges Bush Jr., mentionning "our good ally, France, who deployed a quarter of her Navy in Operation Enduring Freedom" (11th of March 2002)[1] (http://www.brookings.edu/fp/cusf/analysis/shapiro.pdf). At this point, the French air complement had been increased to 16 Super Etendards, 6 Mirage 2000 D, 5 Rafale, two KC-135 air tankers, and two Hawkeye AWACS. From February on, the Charles de Gaulle and the USS John C. Stennis exchanged a few aircraft as a mean of strenghening the ties between the allies.

On the 2nd of May, the Charles de Gaulle arrived in Singapore for a relief, and returned in Oman on the 18th. At the same time, tension begin to increase over the question of Iraq; vice-amiral Francois Cluzel declared before the press: "France is opposed to any military action against Iraq. Should anything of this nature be undertaken, we would be likely not to be part of the coalition".

Indian-Pakistani crisis

From the 9th to the 19th of June 2002, the Charles de Gaulle and her group carried out interposition missions to ease the tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmeer. The Rafales patroled the Indian and Pakistani coasts, armed with live air-air munitions, in the aim of preventing air incidents like what had happened in 1999, when a Pakistani Breguet Atlantic coming from the sea, probably on intelligence mission, has been shot down by Indian forces.

Rescue mission

On the 9th of October, the CrossMed (Regional Operational Centre for Monitoring and Rescue in Mediteranean Sea) recieved a distress call on the 8-metre Babolin, whose hull was leaking. The Charles de Gaulle, in manouvers in the region, sent a helicopter which airlifted the three-man crew, in spite of a 35-knot wind, troubled sea and bad visibility.

Integration in the future Navy

The French navy is usually a two-carrier navy, mainly to ensute that at least one ship is operational at all time even if the other is under repair. This scheme calls for another aircraft carrier to be built.

The emerging European forceshave made equipement standardisation both a necessity and a way to reduce costs. In this context, projects have been drafted to merge the British and French projects for future carriers.

It is possible that the new ship series could be build on a the British design, incorporating the recent experience with the Charles de Gaulle.

Compromises might have to be made in such a scenario: the new aircraft would likely be conventionally propelled to meet the requirements of the Royal Navy, while the French Navy might favour a nuclear design, for which they have the experience and technology, and which would allow greater operational capabilities. Also, because of the size of the hull, the British would need a modular construction, while the French have the dry docks needed to build a one-piece hull.