Design of Latest French Aircraft Carrier PANG Breaks Cover

An updated design of the French Navy’s future aircraft carrier PANG (porte-avions de nouvelle génération) was introduced by manufacturers at the ongoing Euronaval 2022.

French President Emmanuel Macron officially green lighted the construction of the new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as part of the PA-Ng program in December 2020. The future flagship of the Marine Nationale is intended to replace the existing Charles de Gaulle around 2038.

The earlier design unveiled in 2020 showed the carrier shaped like a “water drop” while the model displayed at Euronaval looks more like a “square.” It still features the SeaFire radar in four fixed panels configuration; the “cone” at the top of the island (Command center for flight-deck operations, as well as the ship as a whole) is gone to make way for an array of domes for satellite communication. There is now a helicopter spot behind the island, as well as the area to conduct aircraft maintenance on the flight-deck.

After construction, the ~310m-long PANG carrier could displace around 75,000 tons. It will have two or three 90m electromagnetic catapults (EMALS) by U.S.’ General Atomics.

Also read: U.S. Approves $1.3B Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System Sale for France’s Proposed Aircraft Carrier

The aircraft carrier will have maximum speed of 30 knots and could carry approximately 30 Next Generation Fighter (NGF) or Rafale M jets. It will be able to accommodate 2000 sailors.

The PANG scale model now features a numbers of SIMBAD-RC short-range anti-air self-defense system, RapidFire CIWS, VLS for Aster missiles and the new CMLS anti-torpedo decoy launchers.