Second Aircraft Carrier / Deuxième Porte-Avions / DPA / PA2
France has lacked the capacity to ensure long-distance air coverage during the Charles-de-Gaulle’s maintenance cycles or during other periods when the carrier is not available for active duty (approximately 35% of the time). In 2015, the Charles-de-Gaulle will be taken out of service for an extensive maintenance overhaul. By beginning the construction of a second carrier in 2005/6, the French hope to take delivery by 2014, meaning the new ship is likely to be operational by the time the older vessel goes off line for repairs.
The use of two aicraft carriers guarantees a permanence presence in a zone of conflict withough interfering with rotations or training. The aero-naval group scheduled for 2015, will be composed solely of the "Rafale" aircraft, equiped with fighting capabilities far superior to ones currently available. These aircraft require an aircraft carrier adapted to not only to them but also the the eventual mutations in embarked aviation capabilities in the foreseable future for the horizon 2050, specifically as far as the use of UCAV (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles) are concerned.
Two aircraft carriers are necessary to ensure the operational permanence of the air and sea group which makes it possible the political authority to have a capacity sovereign and always available of projection of power starting from the sea.
With the "Charles Of Gaulle", France has such a capacity during as well as possible 65% of time, situation which will perdurera for ten years more and will have to be taken into account by the political and operational decision makers. For the periods of programmed maintenance or in the event of unavailability of the " Charles Of Gaulle ", the second aircraft carrier ensures the permanence of the capacities of projection of power long distance starting from the sea and the control of the air-sea field.
The placement of two aircraft carriers guarantees the permanence of the action on the zone of engagement. The transits for the changings as well as the activity of drive can also be carried out without obérer the operational capacities.
Although sometimes described a a sister ship to the "Charles Of Gaulle", the second aircraft carrier will in fact be considerably larger, with a larger landing deck and hangar. It will also incoporate ammunition stores and munition preparation areas adapted to the need for the operations being conducted, with heavily charged configurations, adpated fuel storage volumes, aeronautic workshops, and areas specifically tasked with the stockpiling of aeronautical materials in support of the vessel's aerial group. This results in a fully loaded displacement of 59,000 tons, versus 40,600 tons for the CDG.
On 13 February 2004 the French government announced that it had selected the conventional propulsion option for its second aircraft carrier, rather than building an additional nuclear propulsion carrier. The need for an aicraft carrier of larger in size than the Charles de Gaulle, able to achieve a speed of 27 knots, would have necessitated important modifications in the propulsion system as a result of the increased tonnage. This modification would have resulted as well in modifying the safety norms established for the Charles de Gaulle either through the use of existing boiler rooms with expanded capacities or an increase in the number of boiler rooms. That particular option, while technically feasible, was not judged financially viable as a result of the potentially high developmental costs involved.
The analysis of the recent uses of a modern carrier group having shown, that the frequency of resupplying and the average duration of each operation are only slightly increased with conventional propulsion, while being rather determined by the resupplying of fuel for the aircraft, munitions and food.
"This choice ...offers the best perspectives for cooperation with the United Kingdom," Chirac said at the time. But BAE, under contract to build two aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy, told the UK Ministry of Defence that bringing the French into the project could cause long delays and would upset America.
The decision for conventional vs. nuclear propulsion was driven largely by the desire to achieve economies of scale; the U.K. is currently building 2 aircraft carriers, via a working partnership between the French firm Thales and British BAe. Sharing the costs of ship design, commonly procuring large equipment like the propulsion systems and holding common equipment trials brings down the per-ship cost substantially. After numerous comparative studies, it became apparent that the overall costs for the construction of a conventional vessel would be 10% less than for a nuclear vessel, due also to long-term lower maintenance and crew support costs. Finally, the conventional design was more adaptable over time to suit the needs of future aircraft and missions, with an outlook to 2050.
France and Britain have a long-standing desire to maintain their strong bilateral cooperation in the naval defense area, and the opportunity to collaborate on building an aircraft carrier certainly was politically attractive; Franco-British defense cooperation is considered a key element of European defense capability.
The UK’s requirement is for ships designed for the short or vertical take-offs of their F-35 JSFs, whereas the French plan on equipping their carrier with Rafales and future drones. However, at the time when the British Navy made its decision, it purposely chose a design that could easily be adapted to permit either vertical or catapulted take-offs. The French MoD also found many other areas of convergence in terms of requirements with the British design, not least of which is the delivery calendar.
Finally, France and the U.K are actively seeking areas in which to improve fleet interoperability, especially during EU or NATO exercises. France’s flagship firms Thales and DCN (Direction des Constructions Navales) will play a major role alongside BAe in the construction of the vessel, and claim to be able to deliver the ship for less than 2 billion euros.
Many decisions still needed to be made; the issue has been more determining overall operational requirements rather than precise size, level of self-protection, off-load capability onto escort frigates and level of systems capability. Notification of the main contract would be made by the end of 2006, with contracts for definition studies issued earlier, starting in 2004.
There had been talk of an international production program involving PA 2 and the British CVF or Queen Elizabeth class, however, there are believed to be too many differences in requirement. However, areas of industrial cooperation are emerging and a joint industrial report is being used to examine these.
While both sides have still to confirm the final propulsion arrangements they both agree that an electrical propulsion system based upon combined gas turbines and diesels and joint procurement of machinery seems extremely likely.
The second area of potential cooperation appears to be in aviation support systems. These could include equipment such as elevators and landing aids.
The third area appears to be in ship infrastructure such as fire fighting systems and hotel equipment, and here a considerable number of systems and equipment have been identified. It is even possible that joint accommodation modules could be produced.
In June 2004, DCN and Thales announced their decision to combine their strengths and set up an integrated Prime Contract Office to jointly lead the future French aircraft carrier programme. A jointly owned company will assume the role of prime contractor on this programme. This company will have a four-member board of directors, with equal representation by DCN and Thales, chaired by a DCN nominee. This company, which is currently being set up, will lead the PA2 program from conception to completion and support implementation of cooperation with the United Kingdom’s future aircraft carrier programme. The new joint company will be 65% owned by DCN and 35% owned by Thales Naval France.
On 25 January 2005 the French defence minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, announced the launch of the design phase for France’s second aircraft carrier (PA2). This important step marked the end of the preparatory study phase, in which DCN and Thales have been closely involved. The studies, which began in June 2004 and were completed in the summer of 2005, include risk reduction studies and an evaluation of opportunities for cooperation between the British and French aircraft carrier programmes. Once these studies have been completed, the final design definition phase will begin.
The Juliette project consists of a ship of 60,000 tons purely French design, inherited the Romeo project. The Juliette project ship has a single small island. It is 285 meters long with a beam of 72 meters. Its has a displacement of 60,000 tons and a speed of 27 knots. The aeronautical installations are similar, but the personnel more than on the CVF FR (a crew of 1,770 people).
The studies undertaken since early 2005 have focused on the opportunities for cooperation between the French PA2 and the British CVF programs. The studies undertaken since early 2005 concluded that the basic 55,000-65,000t CVF design by the BAE-Thales Alliance team could meet the French Navy's requirements with only limited tailoring. The proposal for an arrangement based on joint procurement - with the CVF design as the baseline - was presented to the DGA and the UK Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) on 26 September 2005. The hull would be built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint Nazaire, with fitting out by DCN at Brest. Chantiers de l'Atlantique can build larger ships than a CVF -- in 2003 they built the 345 m Queen Mary 2. This allows the whole ship to be built, rather than using superblock assembly construction techniques.
The CVF FR is a large vessel equipped with two small islands with a displacement of 65.000 tons fully loaded. It is 283 meters long with a beam of 78 meters. Compared to the Charles of Gaulle, this aircraft carrier is 60% larger (40,000 tons for the CDG and 261.5 meters length). Its crew will be on the other hand is smaller with 1650 people against 1950. Equipped with two elevators and two longer catapults (90 meters), it can embark an air group made up of 32 Rafales (against 24), 3 Hawkeye and 5 heavy helicopters. The propulsion, entirely electric, is planned for a speed of 26.3 knots.
For its future aircraft carrier, France will obviously use the Rafale. As of 2004 a total of 10 version F1 (interception), were on line. They belong to the first order with Dassault in 1999. As of 2005, and until 2008, a second contract will see the delivery of 16 other planes. A third section (2008-2012) will relate to 12 more. There will remain 22 apparatuses to deliver to reach 60 airliners (including 15 F2 standard with air-to-ground and air-to-sea vocation and 35 with the F3 standard, i.e. general-purpose). On the other side of the English Channel, the situation is definitely more complicated. London had envisaged to be equipped from 2012 with an about sixty Join Combat Aircraft (the British name of the American JSF) in the F-35B short take-off and landing version (). The use of this aircraft involves one of the principal differences between the French and Royal Navy carriers -- the later must be equipped with a ramp and had neither catapults, nor arresting cables.
On 12 December 2005 French defence procurement agency DGA formally awarded DCN and Thales a "relay contract" to continue their work on the design of the planned 'PA2' aircraft carrier. This marked a major milestone in the design of the second carrier for the French Navy. The new contract, worth €20 million, will enable the PA2 team to proceed with a detailed preliminary design of a "tailored CVF". These studies will be undertaken by MOPA2, the integrated DCN/Thales prime contract office. The milestone marking the end of the design phase and the start of the production phase is scheduled for late 2006.
France announced 15 December 2005 a consolidation of its two main warship makers in a move that could pave the way for wider consolidation in Europe's shipbuilding sector. Defense electronics company Thales SA agreed to transfer its naval assets to state-owned DCN and pay up to 150 million euros ($180 million) for a 25 percent stake in the company. Under the terms of the deal, to be completed in mid-2006, DCN will acquire Thales' naval assets including its stakes in their existing joint ventures, Armaris and MOPA2 - the unit established to build a second aircraft carrier for the French navy.
