Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 21, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleFrance plans a new aircraft carrier to replace Charles de Gaulle, enhancing maritime power. Macron announced this to troops in Abu Dhabi.
PARIS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron confirmed on Sunday plans to build a new, larger and more modern aircraft carrier to replace the ageing Charles de Gaulle carrier and boost France's capacity as a maritime power.
Macron, who originally touted the plans in 2020, was speaking to troops based at a French military base in Abu Dhabi located near the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial chokepoint for global oil flows.
"The decision to launch this vast programme was taken this week," Macron said, adding that the project would boost France's industrial base, in particular small and medium-sized businesses.
Army Minister Catherine Vautrin said on X that the new vessel would enter service in 2038, around the time that the Charles de Gaulle is expected to be retired. That vessel entered service in 2001, some 15 years after it was commissioned.
Some French lawmakers from the centre and the moderate left have recently suggested that the project to build a new aircraft carrier be postponed due to France's strained state finances.
France remains one of Europe's leading military powers and is one of only five official nuclear-armed countries.
(Reporting by Tassilo HummelEditing by Gareth Jones)
An aircraft carrier is a large naval ship designed to deploy and recover aircraft, serving as a mobile airbase at sea.
A maritime power is a nation with significant naval capabilities and interests, allowing it to project power and influence over maritime regions.
The Charles de Gaulle is a French aircraft carrier that serves as the flagship of the French Navy, commissioned in 2001.
A nuclear-armed country is a nation that possesses nuclear weapons and has the capability to deploy them.
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