from Alexandra Segond
Posted on March 4, March 22 at 7:08 PM, updated March 4, March 22 at 7:13 PM News View my news Follow this media
Charles-de-Gaule (© Marine Nationale)
It was deployed on the evening of Thursday, March 3, 2022 for “deterrent” missions: The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle enters the war in Ukraineannounced the Minister of the Armed Forces Françoise Parley.
Our aircraft carrier is currently heading to the Mediterranean to get closer to Romania on Sunday so that French planes can fly over the north of the country. But actually, what Charles de Gaulle will be used for ?
More than 20 years of activity
Commissioned in 1986 to replace the aircraft carrier Clemenceau, Charles-de-Gaulle was assembled at the Brest shipyards before being officially armed and put into service in 2001. Today, it is the only aircraft carrier in France, even if in the future, the government does not rule out the possibility of a second.
Retirement is planned for 2038
Charles de Gaulle will officially retire in 14 years. It will be replaced by a larger, heavier and more powerful nuclear power carrier (PANG) with nuclear power. It will be built in 2025, for the first sea trials scheduled for 2036.
More than Length 261 meters64 meters wide, 75 meters high, weighing 40,000 tons and a capacity of approximately 2,000 sailors and about forty planes or helicopters: Charles de Gaulle is impressive.
Its top speed can reach 27 knots (50 km / h) in seven minutes and is able to travel up to 1000 kilometers per daystressed by the Ministry of Armed Forces.
To work and allow his team to live there, he is equipped with two nuclear reactors – making France one of the few countries in the world (along with the United States, China and Russia) to have this type of aircraft carrier.
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Watch and deter Russia
” We want send a deterrent message vis-à-vis Russia ”: this is now the mission of Charles de Gaulle and his escort, according to Florence Parley. The aircraft carrier has so far participated from the island of Cyprus in the fight against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
He must now reach an area that will allow Rafales and reconnaissance planes to “carry out air, reconnaissance and reconnaissance missions,” he said. They will fly “full north”, heading Romania for ” monitor and deter“.
“We owe help and solidarity to the countries that belong to the European Union, to the Atlantic Alliance and that are closest to this conflict,” Florence Parley further told BFMTV’s microphone on Thursday night.
We settled down [nos soldats] so that Russia does not take another step and push it into its head to cross that border […]. We are countries bound by a solidarity pact, and Russia knows that if one of us is attacked, then the whole Alliance will take revenge.
Florence ParleyMinister of the Armed Forces
And an attack?
In addition to its deterrent aspect, Charles de Gaulle can also play the card offensivemoving according to the threat and strategic situation. Once well positioned, all he has to do is attack.
Particularly capable of take off every 30 secondsstressed by the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the aircraft carrier can carry 600 tons of ammunition in its holds and powerful weapons, such as medium-range missiles and missile launchers.
But it is above all “the only surface building in Europe and more broadly in NATO, carry nuclear weapons “explained in 2015 Philippe Vodka-Gallien, a member of the French Institute for Strategic Analysis (IFAS), in the monthly Revue Défense Nationale.
That is not the goal of Charles de Gaulle, at least for now. “We have no military intentions”promises Florence Parley, referring to the air operations that have already taken place since February 24.
Tasks for protection
Within a week, fighter jets flew from France to carry out “protection” missions for Poland and the Baltic states. Several arms deliveries to Ukraine have also been made.
In the end, everything will depend on Russia’s strategy. On the eighth day of the offensive, the Russian army continued to advance and occupy the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. On Thursday night, bombings and fires sparked fears of disaster at Europe’s largest power plant.
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