Charles de Gaulle, and would have an airwing that would include thirty-two next-generation fighter jets.
The French Navy’s only currently active aircraft carrier, named for France’s former President Charles de Gaulle, has been in service since May 2001. Two decades is not considered especially long for carriers, but
Charles de Gaulle has had more than its share of problems during its time in service much like its political namesake including a troubled fifteen-year construction period.
Displacing forty-two thousand tons,
Charles de Gaulle is the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to serve outside the U.S. Navy. She is also the only carrier in the world outside of the U.S. Navy to use catapults to launch aircraft and consequently carries conventional CATOBAR-capable jets such as the Dassault Rafale and the E-2C Hawkeye.