France sets sail on PANG: Europe's largest warship project
France is one of the three countries in the world that operate CATOBAR class aircraft carriers with the greatest combat potential. The only French ship of this type, Charles de Gaulle, entered service in 2000, and Paris has begun building its successor. What is known about the new PANG aircraft carrier?
The draft budget law for 2025 reveals that the French Ministry of Defence will begin financing the construction of the new generation aircraft carrier. Paris will also fund the construction of the new PANG supercarrier (porte-avions de nouvelle génération, French for new generation aircraft carrier).
Preliminary work began in 2020, when President Emmanuel Macron confirmed design work and indicated that the new ship would have nuclear propulsion, like the currently operated Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.
After the conceptual phase, project presentations, and models, work on the PANG aircraft carrier is expected to accelerate, involving significant investments. The construction and maintenance of the new ship will require the acquisition of around 15 hectares within the port of Toulon, which will be allocated for building infrastructure and a dry dock.
CATOBAR aircraft carrier
The PANG aircraft carrier will be the successor to the currently operated French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which, according to current plans, will be withdrawn in 2038. The current ship, although nuclear-powered, is a relatively small unit. It is 261 metres long and displaces slightly over 44,000 tonnes, and its air group includes about 40 aircraft and helicopters, with about 30 being multirole Rafale-M.
Despite its modest size, the French unit – as a CATOBAR aircraft carrier – offers significantly greater capabilities than the British Queen Elizabeth-class carriers (280 metres long, 65,000 tonnes displacement) or the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov (306 metres long, 59,000 tonnes displacement).
This is because CATOBAR aircraft carriers launch their planes with catapults, and landing aircraft are decelerated over a short distance by arresting wires (cables stretched across the deck that the landing aircraft hooks with an extended hook). This solution allows the starting aircraft to be heavy with a full load of weapons and fuel.
This gives them an advantage over aircraft taking off using a ski-jump (as on Admiral Kuznetsov) or through V/STOL (vertical/short takeoff and landing) capabilities, as in the case of F-35B aircraft and ships like the British Queen Elizabeth-class carriers or Japanese "multi-purpose destroyers" like the Izumo-class.
The ability to launch heavier aircraft also allows for takeoffs of maritime early warning aircraft like the E-2 Hawkeye, which provides their air group with an additional advantage. Currently, only three countries in the world operate, develop, and build CATOBAR aircraft carriers—these are the United States, China, and France.
French PANG nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
The PANG will be 280 metres long and displace between 82,500 and 88,200 tonnes – it will be the largest warship in Europe, slightly smaller than the American Gerald R. Ford-type supercarriers (approximately 100,000 tonnes displacement) and comparable to the Chinese Type 003 Fujian aircraft carrier.
The French aircraft carrier will be powered by two K22 pressurised water reactors, each producing 220 MW (the same as on the futuristic strategic submarine SNLE 3G). Its crew, along with air personnel, will number around 2,000.
The ship is expected to reach a speed of 27 knots (about 50 km/h). Its air group will include at least 32 multirole aircraft (Rafale-M or futuristic machines from the FCAS programme), maritime early warning aircraft, drones (including those supporting manned aircraft during missions as "loyal wingmen"), and the French deck variant of the NH90 helicopter (NH90 Caïman).
The new aircraft carrier will also differ from the current generation ship by using new electromagnetic catapults (this solution is also being implemented on new American Gerald R. Ford-class carriers and the Chinese Fujian).
Compared to steam catapults, electromagnetic versions (EMALS - Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System) take up less space and allow for more precise force regulation. They are also more straightforward to maintain and less sensitive to external conditions, although their refinement took the Americans many years.
The PANG aircraft carrier will also be equipped with new generation arresting gears (AAG - Advanced Arresting Gear), where the landing aircraft's energy is absorbed by water turbines, whose operation – through precise resistance regulation – can be varied depending on the weight of the landing aircraft.
The ship will receive defensive armament, including Aster 15 anti-aircraft missile launchers and 40 mm RapidFire naval artillery systems. New SeaFire 500 radars developed by Thales will provide situational awareness.
Plans predict that the ship's hull assembly will begin in 2031. The launch is scheduled for 2035, and the aircraft carrier is expected to enter service in 2038. This will coincide with the withdrawal of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which will probably be sold to a foreign buyer. Potential buyers of the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier include Brazil.
