2024-02-03 07:00:00
For approximately 18 months from 2027, the French Navy will have to do without its aircraft carrier. The Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) notified Naval Group at the end of December of the Charles de Gaulle modernization contract on the occasion of its third major technical shutdown (ATM3) planned for 2027 and managed by the Defense Support Service. the fleet (SSF). Every ten years, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is laid up in Toulon for an inevitable ATM allowing the reloading of the fuel necessary for nuclear propulsion. The ship then took another six months to fully recover. Necessary operations but which hamper the availability of the Charles de Gaulle, estimated at 63%.
In-depth modernization
Each time, the French Navy takes advantage of these ATMs to thoroughly modernize aircraft carrier equipment. In 2027, the modernization work will focus in particular on the renovation of the combat system and the anti-missile system with the new fixed four-panel Sea Fire radar from Thales, the latest Setis 3.0 combat system from Naval Group and the new MBDA’s reconfigurable firing facility using Aster missiles. These operations will make it possible to maintain the aircraft carrier’s defense capabilities against future anti-ship missiles and drones. All this work will allow it to have renewed capabilities until its withdrawal from active service and the commissioning of the New Generation Aircraft Carrier (PA-Ng), planned in 2038 in principle.
According to the Ministry of the Armed Forces, this order consolidates the subcontracting workload plan of several manufacturers, mainly Thales, MBDA, Safran Electronics and Defense, Dassault Aviation, CS Group, TechnicAtome and Eviden) on numerous French industrial sites: Toulon and Ollioules in Var, Brest in Finistère and Lorient in Morbihan, Limours and Massy in Essonne or even Le Plessis-Robinson in Hauts-de-Seine.
Retired from service in 2038?
Taking into account nuclear safety constraints, the lifespan of the Charles de Gaulle is approximately 40 years. Commissioned in 2001, the aircraft carrier is expected to be retired around 2038. “Using the Charles de Gaulle beyond 2038 would require a fourth operation to regenerate nuclear fuel and adapt to technological developments”, explained a Senate report published in June 2020. A possible extension will depend on the resistance of the Charles de Gaulle tanks. The third ATM was to be crucial in responding to this eventuality.
The bill for the last ATM (2017-2018) amounted to 1.3 billion euros. In 2024, the ATM3 operation will burn 88.7 million euros in payment credits (compared to 50.7 million in 2023, 14.6 million in 2022) for the ministry. Which illustrates the ramp-up in preparation for ATM3.
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