France recognized the importance of developing aircraft carriers early on, and in the 1960s France built two Clemenceau-class aircraft carriers to take turns on maritime missions. In the 1970s, the successor ships of these two aircraft carriers were put on the agenda. In September 1980, a plan was made to build two medium-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the Charles de Gaulle-class aircraft carriers. The aircraft carrier CHARLES DE Gaulle is the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier other than the United States, and France is also the second country in the world to have a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
In January 1987, the first ship, the Charles de Gaulle, was completed at the Brest Shipyard. The first steel plate was cut in November 1987, assembly began in April 1989 at brest Shipyard Dockyard, launched in July 1994 and officially commissioned in September 2000.
The aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" has a total length of 240.8 meters, a width of 31.4 meters, a draft of 8.5 meters, a standard displacement of 35,500 tons, a full load displacement of 40,600 tons, and the main engine is two K-15 integrated circulating pressurized water reactors, with a total power of about 56,045 kilowatts and a maximum speed of 27 knots. The ship's flight A is 261.5 meters long and 64.4 meters wide, and can carry more than 40 aircraft of various types, generally carrying 30-33 "Rafale M" multi-role fighters and 3-4 E-2C "Hawkeye" early warning aircraft, and 4-6 NH-90 helicopters.
The Charles de Gaulle was equipped with four 8-unit Aster 15 anti-aircraft missile vertical launch systems and two six-mounted Sadlar close-in defense systems, as well as eight 20 mm single-barrel guns for daily vigilance. The ship's electronic equipment includes senit 8 tactical data system and 16 data link, 1 DRBJ-11B Arabelle 3D radar and 1 DRBV-26D Jupiter radar responsible for air alert, and 1 DRBV-15C Sea Tiger radar responsible for sea search.
On 18 May 2001, the Charles de Gaulle was officially commissioned, five years later than originally anticipated, and the damage caused by the delay in progress became a huge black hole in France's finances. On September 11 of the same year, 9/11 occurred, and in order to assist the U.S. military in "Operation Perpetual Freedom" to sweep the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the "De Gaulle" and her accompanying frigates crossed the Suez Canal for the first time into the Indian Ocean, and reached the waters south of Karachi, Pakistan, on December 9. In the US-led attack operation, the carrier-based aircraft on the "Charles de Gaulle" carried out at least 140 reconnaissance and bombing missions, which was the first time that the ship had participated in combat missions since its commissioning. He entered the Port of Singapore in March 2002 for rest and replenishment and returned to his home port of Toulon on 1 July.
De Gaulle's combat capability is second only to the large nuclear aircraft carrier of the United States, ranking second in the world's navies. France had originally planned to build two carriers of the class to replace the conventionally powered clermonts, but so far only one Charles de Gaulle has entered service, and it is not known when the second will start.