With a new aircraft carrier, France wants to strengthen military ties with the US

“It is a battleship, a symbol of power, a testimony to our ability to act,” said French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly on Twitter..

“It is the voice of France in all the waters of the world.”

Mr Macron said the US will only respect European allies if they strengthen their armies. The new airline, scheduled for release in 2038, reaffirms “France’s will to maintain its strategic autonomy,” Mr Macron said in a December 8 speech announcing the new airline to a nuclear component manufacturer.

Rulers of the waves

France has announced that a new aircraft carrier will replace the Charles de Gaulle in 2038. Here are the countries with the largest aircraft carriers.

Some European officials, including Germany’s Defense Minister, have expressed doubts about Mr Macron’s promotion of European power, noting that Europe cannot defend itself without the US.

Still, officials and analysts say France’s focus on capabilities and action in Washington is appreciated, even if Mr Macron’s comment last year that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is experiencing “brain death” was shocking.

“Few countries in the world have that ability to project power,” retired US Admiral James Foggo said of the planned airline. “France has everything we have, but on a smaller scale. They are a very valuable partner for us. “

President-elect Joe Biden says he wants to “deepen and revitalize” relations with European allies who suffered from trade measures and hectors by President Trump on issues such as weak military spending. In an appeal with NATO’s Secretary General last month, Mr Biden said he wanted to work with allies “to ensure that NATO has the strategic orientation and capabilities necessary to strengthen deterrence and to develop new and emerging to face threats, ”his transition team said.

In Germany, Europe’s largest economy and a country that has been reluctant to use force due to its history, plans to boost military spending this month have met with setbacks. The Social Democratic Party, the junior partner in the governing coalition, is blocking the country’s military from buying weapons for drones.

Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who supports the arming of drones, told Parliament that German soldiers in Kunduz province in Afghanistan had told her how an unarmed drone had determined the firing position during a missile strike, but they had to hang around and wait. . for US support.

“I’ve heard a lot in recent days about Europe’s strategic autonomy … that one needs to debate and negotiate with the Americans as equals,” she said on December 9. “The soldiers of the German Army in Kunduz are lying on the ground, looking eagerly at the sky to see when the Americans’ close air support would finally come, they didn’t feel like we could act as equals with America.”

France’s relationship with the US has been close but at times turbulent since the 1778 treaty that helped defeat the British. France withdrew from NATO’s integrated military command in 1966 and opposed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. But France returned to NATO military structures in 2009 and the relationship has grown closer in recent years.

The US has urged allies to do more for European security in recent years as the focus has shifted from Washington to China. This year, France will be one of only 10 NATO members, including the US, to exceed the alliance’s spending target of 2% of gross domestic product. The French government plans to increase spending by 4.5% next year. France has led efforts in the Sahel region of Africa to combat Islamist militants, supported by US intelligence and logistics.

“France’s robust stance coincides with American recognition that it cannot always lead the way and wants allies to share the burden,” said Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, director of the Paris office of Germany’s Marshall Fund of the United States. tank. “France and the US are ready to project power that is not shared with all European countries.”

Inaugurated in 2001, the Charles de Gaulle is a symbol of close cooperation with the US, particularly in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. In late 2015, Paris sent its flagship to the head of the U.S. Navy’s Task Force to Combat the Terrorist Organization, the first time a foreign ship fulfilled such a role. Returning to the region the following year, retired Admiral Foggo, then commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, stationed in Naples, Italy, recalls on the ship’s deck as French-made Rafale fighter jets drove off to pursue targets of the Islamic State.

“It’s very important to the alliance and to France,” said retired Admiral Foggo, now a leading fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, a think tank.

The Charles de Gaulle uses a similar catapult system to launch jets as US aircraft carriers, meaning their fighters can operate from each other’s decks. When the Charles de Gaulle underwent maintenance in 2018, French pilots trained on the aircraft carrier George HW Bush. In March, French and American hunters exchanged decks between the Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Charles de Gaulle while training in the Mediterranean.

The new French aircraft carrier, which does not yet have a name, will be considerably larger than its predecessor. It will stretch 300 meters or 984 feet and will carry 30 jet fighters, either the Rafale jets or their successors, currently under joint development across France, Germany and Spain. The projected weight of 75,000 tons is heavier than any active carrier except the largest US vessel, the Gerald R. Ford. It will be equipped with an electromagnetic launch system from General Atomics of San Diego, which means it will be able to deal with American fighters in the same way as its predecessor. Like the Charles de Gaulle and US airlines, the new ship will be powered by nuclear power, making it less dependent on port visits for fuel.

Write to James Marson at [email protected]