France will start financing the first works on the construction of Europe's largest aircraft carrier

In 2025, France will begin financing the construction of a new generation aircraft carrier under the PA NG programme for the national navy.

Here's What We Know

French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecorneau disclosed this information during a hearing of the French Parliament's Defence Committee.

In fact, the PA NG programme actually started earlier, in April this year. After all, the joint venture between Naval Group and Chantiers de l'Atlantique, known as Porte Avions, announced an order for "long lead time services", which indicates the intensification of preparatory work for the next generation aircraft carrier.

"The services relate to the ship's nuclear propulsion, namely boiler rooms, containment chambers and steam energy conversion," the Directorate General of Armaments explained to Opex360.

The PA NG programme is currently at the detailed preliminary design stage, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. Only after this stage will it be possible to announce development and production contracts.

PA NG will be the largest warship ever built in Europe. It will have a displacement of 80,000 tonnes, which is 5,000 tonnes more than the original design, and a length of 310 metres.

Such large-scale dimensions require the launch of a colossal project at the Toulon naval base. There, it is planned to allocate 10 to 15 hectares in the harbour to build special infrastructure that will serve this future ship.

Source: Opex360