France Libre nuclear aircraft carrier design, Digi Mart USA News: Several French presidential hopefuls stopped at the Euronaval defense shipbuilding show in Villepinte this week, where most visited the Naval Group stand. The industrial group, the largest private employer in the Var department, displayed a scale model of the France Libre, the future nuclear aircraft carrier that it is building with TechnicAtom and Chantiers de l’Atlantique.
“This is our latest version, with a design that is now finalized,” said Laurent, director of the next-generation aircraft carrier (PA-NG) program at Naval Group. The model is built at a scale of 1/100.
The project was launched in 2025, but only the propulsion system is currently in production, at Cherbourg and Nantes.
Other components remain under study. Decisions on weapons, sensors and the digital system are being postponed until 2029, and construction of the hull will not begin before 2030.
The ship is scheduled to arrive at its future home port of Toulon in 2035, with entry into active service planned for 2038.
The carrier will be 310 meters long and displace about 78,000 tonnes. It will be powered by two nuclear reactors and will have a flight deck 40% larger than that of the Charles de Gaulle, according to the program director.
It is designed to be “mixed,” carrying both combat aircraft and drones. Its service life is estimated at 45 years, or until about 2080.
