Key Points and Summary on PANG Aircraft Carrier – The French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, has forcefully pushed back against a parliamentary proposal to delay France’s next-generation nuclear-powered aircraft carrier program, known as PANG.
-While some French lawmakers suggested a delay could free up billions of euros to build more frigates, Lecornu argued that pausing the PANG would not save money and would risk compromising French security.
-He stressed the importance of maintaining France’s power projection capabilities and preserving the country’s vital nuclear shipbuilding skills, which are essential for its submarine fleet as well as its sole aircraft carrier.
PANG Aircraft Carrier to Be Delayed?
Despite some French parliamentarians suggesting that France could delay the construction of the French Navy’s next-generation nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the French Minister of the Armed Forces has pushed back on the proposal, stating that delays would not save money but instead risk compromising both French security and harming French shipbuilders.
The proposal, supported by a pair of French parliamentarians, said that a hypothetical delay to the PANG carrier program could free up millions of euros — potentially up to a billion euros — that the Ministry of Defense could then invest in other naval projects, particularly the construction of additional frigates.
Parliamentary Report on the PANG
A French parliamentary report last month highlighted several aspects of the PANG program, underlining the need for haste and moving forward with the new aircraft carrier without delay.
“Each day of delay in the PANG represents several million euros, which we can invest additionally for the needs of the coming months and years, particularly for the navy,” the parliamentary report explained.
“We are therefore putting forward the ambitious proposal to launch the production of three additional frigates, based on the “Italian” model, at the Lorient shipyards.”
The crux of the issue is the upcoming retirement of the Charles de Gaulle, currently France’s only aircraft carrier, later next decade.
“France naturally needs a new-generation aircraft carrier to replace the Charles-de-Gaulle, which will be withdrawn from service in 2038, because we are an archipelago country and a permanent member of the UN Security Council,” the report stressed.
“We need to project power, and aircraft carriers are an extraordinary tool for achieving air and sea superiority. Finally, we need them to preserve industrial and military expertise in an uncertain world. I am therefore not questioning the relevance of having at least one aircraft carrier for the French navy and our naval aviation.”
No Delays
During a hearing before the French Senate, Sébastien Lecornu, the French Minister for the Armed Forces, expressed his strong opposition to any PANG project delays, citing the need for air superiority at sea and the requirement to support forces on shore in the event of a future conflict.
“All debates are possible, but I have two certainties. The first is that there will never be a time in the future, in any conflict, where we will not need to provide air defence and air superiority,” the minister said, as quoted by Naval News.
The other point the minister made was the importance of the PANG’s nuclear propulsion to other French naval projects and the need to sustain French nuclear skills.
“We shouldn’t kid ourselves, as this is not a global know-how: 4 nuclear reactors for 4 SSBNs, 6 reactors for 6 SSNs […] and the 2 nuclear reactors with their development and maintenance [for the PANG], that’s just enough to keep the skills alive,” he added.
Currently, the United States Navy operates one fewer aircraft carrier than all the other countries in the world combined: 11 nuclear-powered carriers. Europe operates six: two with the British Royal Navy, two with the Italian Navy, and the French and Spanish Navies, each with one carrier or helicopter carrier.
Russia operates a single aircraft carrier. China, India, and Japan operate two each, though China has a third approaching active service and is almost certainly planning to build more in the future.
What Next for PANG?
The PANG carrier’s costs are certainly a significant factor in the project’s success and timeline. However, as one of Europe’s few countries with a substantial and credible global power projection force, it would be an important shift in French foreign policy to delay the new carrier.
Given France’s overseas territories, many of which are in the Indo-Pacific region, it seems unlikely that Paris would delay the PANG, given the importance of naval aviation to protecting the country’s overseas interests.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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