French 'calamity' aircraft carrier heads for sea

French 'calamity' carrier heads for sea - again By Julian Coman in Paris (Filed: 11/03/2001)

ONE of the most embarrassing sagas in French maritime history took a further twist last week when France's most accident-prone warship began the countdown to another attempt to take to the high seas.

In the Ministry of Defence and on the quayside at Toulon, where the 40,000-ton aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle had been dry-docked, sceptical observers crossed their fingers and prayed for a fair wind.

The idea of France's first nuclear-powered carrier was dreamt up in 1986. It soon became a pet project of the then president, Francois Mitterrand. The ship that was built has proved, however, to be a humiliating and expensive naval failure. Fifteen years and £7 billion later, it has still to complete its first successful tour of service and has suffered a series of mishaps.

An attempt to go to sea in November ended characteristically in disaster somewhere in the Bermuda triangle. A substantial part of a 19-ton propeller broke off, obliging the carrier to limp back to southern France.

Since then, naval engineers have worked round the clock for three months in preparation for the next bid for seaworthiness. Last Tuesday, the vessel moved into the bay of Toulon proper. Its 1,950 crew are hoping for an April sailing, although no one was celebrating prematurely.

Frustration with the carrier has become palpable. Some of the more mutinous sailors of the Charles de Gaulle have taken to calling it "the damned ship [le bateau maudit]". The French minister of defence, Alain Richard, has promised to take whoever was responsible for the latest propeller debacle to court. He has even admitted that the Charles de Gaulle has become a subject of "ridicule".

It is not hard to understand why. The propeller incident was only one of a growing list of examples of mishap, misjudgment and mismanagement of the ship that was intended to be a symbol of French military prestige in the 21st century. "If you look back on the history of this ship," said one senior naval official, "it has just been a catalogue of errors."

Even the ship's name caused trouble. In 1986, President Mitterrand decided to call it the Richelieu, after the cardinal. In 1989, however, the Gaullist Jacques Chirac became prime minister. Mr Chirac believed that such a potent symbol of national pride should be named after the general who inspired his own political beliefs.

After a ferocious row, Mr Chirac prevailed. While the arguments raged, however, construction was falling further behind schedule. As economic recession began to bite in the 1990s, the project was starved of funding. On four occasions, work on the ship was suspended altogether. It was clear that the 1996 deadline for active service was wildly unrealistic.

Mr Chirac, then president of France, made a virtue out of necessity and decided that the Charles de Gaulle should become a millennium project, ready for service in 2000. After years of neglect, technical work and development began to be conducted at breakneck speed. By the late 1990s, the carrier was ready for its first proper sea tests, at which point things began to go even more awry.

The ship's flightdecks, it became clear, were too short to accommodate the American Hawkeye radar aircraft that France had bought for the vessel. In addition, the decks had been painted with a substance that eroded the arrest wires used to slow the aircraft as they landed.

The ship's electronics circuits weremalfunctioning, while its personnel, it emerged, were being exposed to unacceptable levels of radiation. The ship was simply not fit to sail. After many months of repairs, the Charles de Gaulle was relaunched last year on a cruise to Guadaloupe. Then the propeller problems began.

The firm that made the propellers, Atlantic Industries, went bankrupt in 1999. When the ship sails next month, it will borrow two propellers from older carriers. This time, the voyage must be a success. "If repeated mishaps don't finish a ship off, ridicule does," said Mr Richard. The French navy's communications officer in Toulon, Pierre Olivier is issuing similarly warnings. "Nothing must be left to chance for this trip," he said. "Everything must be in order this time."

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/gaulle/

CHARLES DE GAULLE NUCLEAR POWERED AIRCRAFT CARRIER, FRANCE
The 38,000t, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle was constructed at the DCN Brest naval shipyard in Brittany. The ship was launched in May 1994 and commissioned in September 2000, following sea trials which began in January 1999. As a result of trials the landing deck has been lengthened by 4.4m to enable the E-2C to land and clear the deck quickly. The carrier was due to enter service in December 2000, but, following the breakage of a propeller blade during long-distance trials, this was delayed to April 2001. In June 2001, the carrier took part in exercises in the Mediterranean and in December 2001 left to take part in Operation Enduring Freedom where it was stationed in the Arabian Gulf. It returned to its home port of Toulon in July 2002. Super Etendard and Hawkeye E-2C aircraft carried out a number of sorties but the ship's seven Rafale fighters did not take part in operations, although they did take part in exercises with the US Navy.

The French Navy has plans to build a second carrier to enter service around 2015. This may be in the same class as the Charles de Gaulle or it may be a conventionally-powered version. Discussions have been held between the French and UK governments on the possibility of a joint development with the UK's CVF carrier project.

AIRCRAFT
The ship can operate a fleet of up to 40 aircraft: Rafale M (range 3,340km), Super Etendard (range 1,682km) and three E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft. The ship will also support the AS 565 Panther or NH 90 helicopter.

The main deck consists of a main runway angled at 8.5° to the ship's axis and an aircraft launch area forward of the island. These are each equipped with a USN Type C13 catapult, capable of launching one aircraft per minute. The runway is 195m long and the whole deck measures 260 x 64m. The carrier is fitted with the EADS Systems & Defence Electronics DALAS laser landing aid.

SATRAP COMPUTERISED STABILISATION SYSTEM
The carrier is fitted with the SATRAP computerised, integrated stabilisation system designed to maintain stabilisation to within 0.5° of horizontal, allowing aircraft to be operated up to Sea State 5/6. As well as the carrier's two pairs of active stabilising fins and twin rudders, the system has two computer-controlled compensation units which consist of two rail tracks for trains carrying 22t of deadweight. These tracks run transversely below the flight deck. This system is designed to compensate for wind and heel and control roll, yaw and surge.

COMBAT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
The ship's weapons are managed by a Senit Combat Management System, which has the capacity to track up to 2,000 targets. The weapon control system consists of two Vigy 105 optronic directors supplied by Sagem. The ship also has two Sagem Vampir search and track systems.

SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES
The SAAM (Surface Anti-Air Missile) system, developed by Eurosam (set up by MBDA and Thales), provides defence against hostile aircraft and anti-ship missiles. The system uses the Aster 15 surface-to-air missile and entered operational service in November 2002, with the first firing of the missile from the Charles de Gaulle. The Aster missile has a 13kg warhead and a range of 30km. The missile's guidance is inertial with data uplink and active radar terminal homing. For increased manoeuvrability in the terminal phase, the missile uses a 'PIF-PAF' direct thrust control system with gas jets. Two eight-cell Sylver vertical launch systems are installed on the starboard side forward of the bridge and two on the port side aft of the bridge. The system uses the Thales (formerlyThomson-CSF) Arabel radar, which is a multi-function three-dimensional radar with a range of 70km for a target area of 2m².

The ship has two six-cell Sadral launching systems for the MBDA (formerly Matra BAe Dynamics) Mistral anti-aircraft and anti-missile missile. Mistral has an infra-red seeker and a range of 4km.

GIAT 20F2 20MM GUNS
The ship is equipped with eight Giat 20F2 20mm guns, which fire 0.25kg shells at 720 rounds/min to a range of up to 8km.

COUNTERMEASURES
Four EADS Systems & Defence Electronics Sagaie 10-barrel trainable decoy launchers are installed. The system fires chaff to 8km and infra-red flares to a range of 3km. Two Thales ARBB 33 jammers, mature versions of the Salamandre, are installed to jam I-, H- and J- band radar signals. Electronic support measures include the Thales ARBR 21 radar warner. The aircraft carrier will also be fitted with a SLAT anti-torpedo system being developed by Euroslat, a consortium consisting of WASS (Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subaqua), DCN and Thales Underwater Systems (formerly Thomson Marconi Sonar).

RADAR SENSOR SUITE
The suite of radar sensors installed on the carrier are: Thales DRBJ 11B three dimensional long range air search radar operating in the E- to F- bands; Thales DRBV 26D Jupiter medium/long range air search radar operating at D-band; Thales DRBV 15C Sea Tiger Mark 2 air and surface search radar operating at E- and F-bands; two Thales (formerly Racal) Model 1229 navigation radars operating at I-band; and the Thales Arabel fire control radar operating at I-to J-band.

PROPULSION AND POWER PLANT
The Charles De Gaulle is equipped with two nuclear pressure water reactors, PWR Type K15, which provide a speed of 27 knots. The 61MW turbines are from Alsthom. The propulsion system has the capacity to provide five years continuous operation at 25 knots before refuelling.


Press Release Number: EHD200209261	26-Sep-02

NAVAIR Assists French Navy Carrier
By Vicky Falcón NAVAIR Public Affairs The French Navy had a choice to make. Spend six months in the shipyard and four million Euros to peen both catapults on the French carrier Charles De Gaulle, or have the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) perform the task in three weeks at a fraction of the cost. The choice was easy. Four NAVAIR Voyage Repair Team (VRT) members and two Carrier and Field Service Unit (CAFSU) representatives spent less than three weeks in Toulon, France, working with French sailors to service the catapults aboard the ship. Catapults are the key to launching aircraft off the deck of a carrier. Ship personnel can perform routine maintenance, but when major servicing is required professional expertise is necessary – that’s where NAVAIR comes in. “The impressive commitment displayed by everyone involved again demonstrates the continuing success of the services provided to our launch and recovery program and are in keeping within the highest traditions that our two navies share,” said the Commanding Officer of the Charles De Gaulle in a message expressing his thanks to the American team. The job entailed lifting the power cylinders (46 per catapult) from the Charles De Gaulles’ two catapults onto the deck of the ship and taking them apart for peening – the process of reshaping the inside of the cylinders. They were then reassembled and lowered back into the carrier’s catapult trough where the cylinder covers were installed and adjusted. Subsequently, the catapult trough covers were set and two tests were performed to validate the clearances were within specification. Joe McGuckin is the head of NAVAIR’s Fleet Technical Services Division and oversees CAFSU personnel. “These men and women represent the essence of NAVAIR,” said McGuckin. “They have unsurpassed knowledge, expertise and experience in naval aviation technologies and are able to respond urgently, accurately and effectively to the calls of our warfighter – and our allies.” “In other words,” he added, “they are the best in the world at what they do.” CAFSU and VRT personnel provide on-site technical services for the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) for American carriers at sea, as well as the French carrier. Some of the systems they are responsible for include the catapults, arresting gear flush deck nose gear launch, jet blast deflectors, Heads-Up Display (HUD) and Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System (FLOLS). According to McGuckin, who works out of NAVAIR Lakehurst, N.J., the CAFSU and VRT are the eyes, ears and the direct link between the many engineers at Lakehurst and the ship’s personnel who operate the equipment. “We at NAVAIR believe the warfighter has the right to expect the world’s best guidance, counsel, advice and support regarding naval aviation technology,” he said. “And that’s what we provide every day.” McGuckin also looks forward to working with the French in the future. “They’ve just received the ‘OK’ to build a second carrier,” he said. “They will definitely be working with NAVAIR on that initiative, as well.” NAVAIR provides advanced warfare technology through the efforts of a seamless, integrated, worldwide network of aviation technology experts. From professional training to carrier launch; from sensor data to precision targeting; from aircraft and weapons development to successful deployment; from real-time communication to aircraft recovery NAVAIR provides dominant combat effects and matchless capabilities to the American warfighter. For more information about the Naval Air Systems Command, go to www.navair.navy.mil Photos by David Womack. Caption 1: NAVAIR Carrier and Field Service Unit and NAVAIR Voyage Repair Team personnel peen a catapult power cylinder aboard the French aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle while in port in Toulon, France in August. Brett Lowe, Dale Hafer, Kevin Vanderberry and Willie Thompson (from left to right) were part of a NAVAIR team from Norfolk, Va., and Mayport, Fl., sent to Toulon to assist the French Navy in servicing the carrier's catapults. There were a total of 46 cylinders to be peened per catapult. On the left is one of two rows of power cylinders ready to lower into the bow catapult of the carrier. Caption 2: NAVAIR Voyage Repair Team (VRT) member Brett Lowe (on left) works with three Charles De Gaulle cremembers to make repairs to the French carrier's catapult power cylinder covers prior to final assembly on board the ship in port in Toulon, France in August. Lowe was part of a six-man NAVAIR team that completed a servicing request by the French Navy for the ship's catapults. Caption 3: NAVAIR Voyage Repair Team (VRT) member Wilbern McFarland (foreground) and Charles De Gaulle crewmembers lower one row of waist catapult power cylinders following peening and reassembly aboard the French aircraft carrier while in port in Toulon, France in August. A total of 23 gantry winches are used to simultaneously lower the entire row of power cylinders. Each member would handcrank 1/4 turn in the lower position per whistle blow. All other members of the American team monitored the loaad of each winch to insure that none became overloaded and broke. The NAVAIR team consisted of four VRTs and two Carrier and Field Service Unit personnel.

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NAVAIR Assists French Navy Carrier