French Carrier Update

The Charles de Gaulle, French CVN R91, has been returned to the French Navy following what has been described as a scheduled overhaul and nuclear refueling. Back in December, DefenseNews told us that this overhaul cost around USD $381 million, which is an awful lot to spend refurbishing a ship that was only handed over to its navy for original acceptance seven years before going into dock for the refit - and fifteen months of refurb after that period is not trivial. While a great deal of the specifics listed do seem to involve new capabilities brought on by changes to the Rafale, the primary aircraft operated, the fact that it required a nuclear refueling seems a bit odd.

Although the poor CdG's trials and tribulations have been well-covered elsewhere, this is just a bit of a mental note that this is the sort of thing that occurs when domestic carrier production is allowed to lapse. The French went 20 years or so without building a carrier, and even with the eleven-year build time caused by budget fights, seven years before nuclear refueling is not a good record. It is possible that the refueling was done opportunistically, as changes to the reactor systems had been mandated by EU safety and environmental regulations in any case (possibly due to changes in those regulations which post-dated the design of the carrier, requiring stricter limits).

The performance of the CdG is important as France decides whether to go in with Britain on a CVF conventional carrier buy, purchasing one to Britain's two to reduce costs for both, or if she will choose to build a second CdG-class with lessons learned.