Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday, during a visit to the site of the manufacturer of nuclear reactors Framatome in Le Creusot, that the future French aircraft carrier would be, like the Charles-de-Gaulle, nuclear-powered, believing that "our energy future and ecological goes through nuclear power ”.
For the Head of State, the strategic autonomy of France, "it is of course deterrence, in all its components, it is of course the propulsion of our nuclear submarines launching devices as well as attack is also the nuclear propulsion of our aircraft carriers ”.
"This is why I have decided that the future aircraft carrier which will equip our country and our navy will be like the nuclear-powered Charles-de-Gaulle," he declared.
75,000 tonnes for around 300 meters long
Another reason leading to this choice rather than to a diesel propulsion, less expensive, is the preservation of skills "technical, technological and industrial throughout the sector" over the long term.
The future aircraft carrier will be much more massive than the current one, ie 75,000 tonnes for around 300 meters in length, against 42,000 tonnes for 261 meters for the Charles-de-Gaulle.
It will go at the same speed of 27 knots (50 km / h) and will count like it some 2,000 sailors, with more living space, "the lessons of Covid-19 having been learned".
But it will embark fewer hunters, 30 instead of 40.
Indeed, the future SCAF, a Franco-German-Hispanic combat aircraft, will be heavier and larger than the Rafale.
