France confirms the order for the new generation aircraft carrier for 2025
„The year 2025 will be the year when the order for the new generation aircraft carrier will be placed.“ Sébastien Lecornu, French ministrer of the Armed Forces, confirmed the order for the PANG, or Porte-Avions de Nouvelle Génération, new generation aircraft carrier, for 2025.
As in many other countries, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces is one of the few to escape any coming austerity measures. The Minister Sébastien Lecornu is well aware of this, stating that he has a duty to taxpayers, citizens and voters to ensure that this money is well spent. Unveiled on 11 October, the French finance bill for 2025 provides for an increase in defence budget appropriations to €50.54 billion (increase of €3.3 billion), in line with the financial trajectory defined by the 2024–30 Military Planning Law. This is taking place against a backdrop of a significant deterioration in public finances, coupled with an uncertain political situation, which will have an impact on the budget debate in the National Assembly.
On 14 October, during a hearing at the National Assembly, Mr Lecornu maintained that the Ministry of the Armed Forces had already paid its dues to the recovery of public finances: „We had peace dividends that were taken a little too far in the 2000s, and we can clearly see that the effects have been lasting on our military capabilities. Overall, for twenty years, our national wealth had increased by more than 50% and global military spending had risen by 18%, while our national military spending fell by 17%“. This resulting in the loss of 54,000 posts, one out of every two army regiments and 11 air bases. The Minister also pointed out that the French Navy had 311,000 tonnes of steel at sea in the 1980s, compared with 287,000 tonnes in 2019.
The PANG program has already begun
The Ministry of Defence has not published details of the deliveries and orders planned for 2025. However, Mr Lecornu gave the broad outlines to the members of the Defence Committee. A greater effort than planned will be made on so-called complex munitions, with a budget of €1.9 billion, which is 27% more, i.e. €400 million, than in the 2024 fiscal year. And there is talk of strengthening capabilities to prevent a downward bypass of deterrence. Space will benefit from an investment of €870 million (+15%) while intelligence and cyber will see a further increase in funding of around 13% more. Also the development of directed-energy weapons and deep-sea resources will be accelerated.
But the largest investment is still the new generation aircraft carrier or PANG. Mr Lecornu said the Ministry of the Armed Forces will notify the industry of its order next year: „The year 2025 will be the year when the order for the new generation aircraft carrier will be placed.“ Until now, this deadline has been uncertain. And it will probably provoke a few negative comments, especially as the planned investment is expected to amount to around ten billion euros, according to the latest issue of the French Navy's magazine Cols Bleus.
The PANG programme has in a way already begun. In April the order for long lead time services was awarded to MO-Porte-avions, the joint venture between Naval Group and Chantiers de l'Atlantique and TechnicAtome: „The services concern the ship's nuclear propulsion, i.e. the boiler rooms, containment systems and steam energy conversion,“ explained the French defense procurement agency (DGA) at the time.
80,000 tonnes, 310 meters, designed for the NGF
At present, the PANG programme is in the preliminary design phase, which should be completed by the end of 2025. It is only once the launch and production file is ready that the development and production contracts can be notified. The PANG will be the largest naval vessel ever built in Europe, having a displacement of 80,000 tonnes or 5,000 tonnes more than initially envisaged. And a length of 310 metres. Such dimensions mean that a colossal worksite will have to be launched at the Toulon naval base, the aim being to gain 10 to 15 hectares of harbour to build quays and a dock dedicated to this future ship.
The future aircraft carrier will have almost double the weight of the Charles de Gaulle (41,500 tonnes fully loaded). The mass of the PANG will have to be mobilised by more powerful machines, capable of supplying the electrical energy needed by ever more power-hungry equipment, in particular the new electromagnetic catapults that will power the future fighter aircraft of the NGF program (part of the FCAS project), which will be heavier than the Rafale. At this stage, the estimated power required is 110,000 hp (80 MW) for propulsion and 30 MW for on-board power. This should be supplied by two K22 nuclear reactors with a thermal output of 220 MW, derived from the K15 fitted to the Charles de Gaulle. These new boilers, designed by Technicatome, will also equip the future SN3G submarines. They will run on low-enriched uranium, which will have to be replaced every ten years.
For the PANG, the power generated will be transmitted to three shaft lines and three propellers (only two on the Charles de Gaulle), via three turbo gearboxes, to enable it to reach a speed of at least 27 knots (50 km/h), which is necessary for aeronautical operations. There are both operational and strategic reasons for choosing nuclear propulsion.
The FCAS will be the air combat system of the second half of the 21st century. It will bring together, around a new multi-purpose combat aircraft adapted to the air threats of 2040 and beyond, combat resources working in networks, exploiting AI, including drones of various types. It can be called Europe's most ambitious military project to date, the FCAS proposal being a project led by several European nations, including France, Germany, Spain and Belgium. Its entry into service is scheduled for 2040 and it is therefore likely that, initially, the Rafale M will equip the PANG, and that it will eventually be replaced by the NGF later.
