The Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier participates in operations with the US Navy in the Gulf of Oman in January 2014. The Charles de Gaulle is the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier outside the US Navy. (US Navy/French Chief Petty Officer Francois Marcel)

Why France Might Keep Its Flagship in Service Beyond Its Planned Retirement Date

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The French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was slated for retirement in 2038, when the next-generation “PANG” carrier entered service. Now Paris is having second thoughts.

France is exploring options to keep the Maritime Nationale’s (French Navy’s) flagship aircraft carrier, the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle, in service beyond 2038. Previous plans had called for the warship to be retired when the future France Libre, the centerpiece of the PANG (Porte-Avions de Nouvelle Génération, “Next-Generation Aircraft Carrier”), is commissioned.

French Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Christophe Cluzel told lawmakers in a hearing on Wednesday that the service will soon determine if the aircraft carrier—the only nuclear-powered flattop now in service apart from the United States Navy’s Nimitz-class and Ford-class supercarriers—could remain in service beyond 2038, providing the French Navy with two carriers.

“Do we need two carriers? Two carriers allow you to maintain a standing alert from Toulon,” Cluzel told the National Assembly’s defense committee, referring to the flagship’s home port in southern France, Defense News reported. “Two carriers is a political ambition, and it’s not for me to decide on its suitability.”

The French Navy is........

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