'France is wild': Macron to unveil name of Europe's largest warship / Photo: © POOL/AFP
'France is wild': Macron to unveil name of Europe's largest warship
President Emmanuel Macron was set to unveil on Wednesday the name of France's next aircraft carrier, as the country looks to reinforce its status as a major maritime power.
Once completed, the new nuclear-powered flagship, which is set to replace the country's sole aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, will be the largest warship ever built in Europe.
Ahead of the ceremony, Macron posted a 30‑second video highlighting some of France's proudest moments and technological achievements.
Set to rousing music, the video featured footage of the Charles de Gaulle, submarines, troops, jets streaking in the air, high-speed trains, and France's astronaut Sophie Adenot, who has been in space since mid-February.
"France is wild", read the white letters splashed in English across the clip.
In December, Macron announced the start of construction of the new aircraft carrier, a project estimated to cost 10 billion euros ($11 billion). The vessel is to enter service in 2038.
"In an age of predators, we must be strong in order to be feared," Macron told troops at a French military base near Abu Dhabi, close to the Strait of Hormuz, at the time.
In recent weeks, the president has repeatedly underscored France's maritime ambitions.
He said last week that Paris and its allies were putting together a mission to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for tankers that Iran has effectively closed since the United States and Israel carried out air strikes in the Islamic republic last month.
But the French leader has ruled out any action until hostilities there cool.
Macron was expected to unveil the warship's name at a shipyard in the western town of Indret, near Nantes, where the vessel's two nuclear reactors will be built.
"The name of the aircraft carrier to succeed the Charles de Gaulle will be revealed. Which name do you prefer?" Gabriel Attal, the former prime minister and now head of Macron's centrist party, wrote on Facebook.
He ran an informal poll, providing four options -- including Le Jeanne d'Arc, France's national heroine.
- Much bigger -
Construction of the future warship's hull is expected to begin in the western port city of Saint-Nazaire in 2031.
France is one of the two countries in the world that operate nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. The United States has 11 such vessels.
The Charles de Gaulle was commissioned in 2001 and is the largest warship ever built for the French Navy.
The new warship will be much larger than the 42,000-tonne 261-metre-(856-foot-) long Charles de Gaulle.
It will weigh nearly 80,000 tonnes and be approximately 310 metres long. With a crew of 2,000, it will be able to carry 30 fighter aircraft as well as combat drones.
"In the future, the aircraft carrier will be more than just an aircraft carrier," said the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Nicolas Vaujour.
(P.Tomczyk--DTZ)
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