Charles de Gaulle carrier 2001 version

The history of Charles de Gaulle begins in 1974, the year when the oil crisis shook the industrialized countries. In this context, the French government decided to launch the construction of the Porte-Hélicoptères-75, a 16,400 t helicopter carrier equipped with nuclear heating systems, a project which was ultimately abandoned. In 1982, the Superior Council of the Navy asked that the studies carried out for the nuclear propulsion of the PH-75 project (which in the meantime became Porte-Avions-75 then PA-83) be used to define a new generation of aircraft carriers capable of replacing the Clémenceau and the Foch before the end of the century. Nuclear propulsion offers the vessel the possibility of staying longer at sea without needing to refuel. More than 10,000 plans were then drawn up by engineers from the Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN), and on February 4, 1986, the construction of the ship called Charles de Gaulle was authorized. Its launch will take place on May 7, 1994, and its commissioning on May 18, 2001. A true technical feat, this aircraft carrier has a system of 12 moving masses of 22 t which compensates for rolling movements and allows the ship to use its force 5 or 6 seaborne planes. The shapes of the Charles de Gaulle are "stealthy" to reduce its radar signature in order to make it less easily identifiable. In 2020, France is the only country, outside of the United States, to have completed the construction of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.