Future French aircraft carrier
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 PANG is expected to begin around 2031 and it is projected to enter service in about 2038; the year the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is due to be retired. The ship will be nuclear-powered and will feature the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG).
Artist's impression of the carrier
General outlines of the ship.
View from the flight deck, with the distinctive French landing markings.
French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle is the flagship of the French Navy. The ship, commissioned in 2001, is the tenth French aircraft carrier, the first French nuclear-powered surface vessel, and the only nuclear-powered carrier completed outside of the United States Navy. She is named after French president and general Charles de Gaulle.
Charles de Gaulle in 2019.
USS Enterprise (left), the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and Charles de Gaulle (right), at that time the newest nuclear carrier, both steaming in the Mediterranean Sea on 16 May 2001.
Command bridge of Charles de Gaulle
A rare occurrence of a 5-country multinational fleet of the NATO countries, the Netherlands, France, the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea
