December 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval
PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Dec. 8 that his country's next aircraft-carrier will be nuclear-powered and should be operational by 2038 in time to replace the Charles de Gaulle, which entered active service in 2001.
The new aircraft carrier is expected to be the biggest warship France has ever built. Florence Parly, the armed forces minister, said in October that the ship, whatever its propulsion, would be designed to deploy the future combat aircraft system (FCAS) and today her ministry confirmed that the vessel would deploy about 30 of these aircraft “which will be bigger than the Rafales.”
The ministry said the ship would be in the 75,000 tonne class (82,673 tons), be around 300 meters long (984 feet) and be able to sail at 27 knots (31 mph), even bigger than the second aircraft carrier that Naval Group was working on in the early 2000s until that program was shelved by the government for lack of money. In comparison, the Charles de Gaulle is 261m (856 feet) long and weighs 42,000 tonnes (46,297 tons) fully loaded. The new ship will have a crew of about 2,000, including the air group.
Speaking at Framatome, France's principal nuclear-power company headquartered at Le Creusot in the centre of France, Macron announced just four minutes before the end of his 28 minute speech that he had “decided that the future aircraft-carrier which will serve our country and our navy will, like the Charles de Gaulle, be nuclear-propelled.”
It will have two K22 power generators each generating 220 megawatts (hence the 22) derived from the K15 (that generate 150 MW each) that currently power the Charles de Gaulle.
Naval Group, which is the prime contractor for these major ship-building projects, immediately issued a statement hailing the decision, pledging to work with its major industrial partners Chantiers de l'Atlantique, TechnicAtome and Dassault Aviation.
Pierre Eric Pommellet, chairman and CEO of Naval Group, said, “We are delighted with the announcement (...) which will enable France to maintain its position in the very restricted circle of major powers holding a nuclear aircraft carrier.”
Echoing what Macron had said in his speech, Pommellet stressed the importance of projects like this to “ensure the continuity of our skills” and of developing innovative solutions “in the fields of propulsion and high added-value military systems, thus maintaining France's technological lead and its position as a key geostrategic player.”
Now that the nuclear option has been chosen to power France's new aircraft carrier, other major decisions will have to be taken, notably concerning the catapults which are a vital part of the project. France has no expertise in this highly specialized technology and so will have to import the catapults from the United States, as it has done for the past 60 years. Those on the Charles de Gaulle are steam-powered, but those on the new aircraft carrier will be electromagnetic.
Naval Group and its partners will now start a two-year preliminary design study, which sources said may use a number of the ideas that had been worked on for the aborted second aircraft carrier. That will be followed by more detailed plans with the development phase expected to finish at the end of 2025 at which point the ministry will order the ship. The design phase up to the end of 2025 is expected to cost some €900 million ($1.09 billion) of which €117 million ($142 million) will be spent in 2021.
September 18, 2023 | International, Land
Swedish defence equipment maker Saab said on Monday the U.S. Department of Defense has expanded a framework deal for AT4 anti-armour systems and Carl-Gustaf ammunition, and placed a new order worth $104.9 million for delivery from 2024 to 2026.
August 3, 2022 | International, Aerospace
As the Canadian federal government negotiates with its U.S. counterpart for the sale of the F-35 to replace the RCAF CF-188 Hornet, Top Aces is preparing for how best to deliver aggressor air training for a fighter far more advanced than the Hornet.
November 4, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Security
by Lisa Gordon Often referred to as the “SuperScooper,” the Canadair CL-415 and its older sibling, the CL-215, are known around the world for their aerial firefighting capabilities. First introduced in 1967 by Canadair, the original CL-215 had piston engines. When Bombardier bought the company in 1986 and obtained the type certificate for the aerial firefighter, it spearheaded a turbine engine conversion in 1989 and named it the CL-215T. Subsequently, the manufacturer developed the turbine-powered CL-415 in the 1990s. The amphibious aircraft are capable of scooping just over 6,000 litres from a body of water within 12 seconds. After flying to a fire, the aircraft drop their loads and return to the water source to do it all over again. There are just under 170 Canadair amphibious firefighting aircraft flying worldwide, and while each may only log 200 to 300 flight hours annually, their missions are demanding. The airspace around a wildfire is busy with limited visibility, and it's crucial for waterbombers to see and be seen. On any given mission, they may be flying in concert with other resources deployed to fight a fire, which could include tankers carrying fire retardant, helicopters slinging water in Bambi buckets, and Bird Dog aircraft overseeing the entire operation. As the original CL-215T and CL-415 aircraft age, their outdated avionics are posing a significant challenge. In a world implementing technology such as ADS-B Out and controller pilot data link communications (CPDLC), the CL-215T and 415 family is becoming obsolete. A good start Viking Air Ltd. of Sidney, B.C., which obtained the Canadair amphibious aircraft type certificates from Bombardier in 2016 and now supports the worldwide fleet, is working to address this problem with a cockpit upgrade. It will enable the legendary aerial firefighters to fly in any airspace and is expected to extend their service lives by 25 years. “This aircraft has had a long life and a long history,” said Dan Seroussi, director, Programs at Viking. “The design originated in the 1960s with a piston engine. When we took over the program, we wanted to provide our operators with an evolution to give them more service life and a better dispatchability. We wanted to have a good start and immediately show our commitment to the aircraft and to our operator group.” So, Viking asked CL-215T and CL-415 operators about the biggest challenges faced by their fleets. “It was obsolescence,” explained Seroussi. “They came to us with a lot of issues which led to a focus on the avionics. It was an opportunity to extend the life of the existing fleet. “New requirements are mandatory, such as ADS-B Out,” he continued. “On top of that, the technology has evolved. Even if it's not mandatory, more modern technology is available to help this aircraft accomplish its mission. We wanted to take this opportunity to upgrade the avionics suite and improve performance wherever possible.” The result is the Avionics Upgrade Program (AUP) for the Canadair CL-215T and CL-415 aircraft, launched in May 2019. Viking selected fellow B.C.-based company, Cascade Aerospace of Abbotsford, to perform the integration of a new Collins Aerospace Pro Line Fusion avionics suite with embedded display system. “Cascade defines the requirements and manages the design and certification activities,” explained Seroussi. “They will install and certify the upgraded avionics and as the aircraft OEM, Viking will integrate the modification into the type certificate of the CL platform.” The design of the modification is currently under development and is nearing the preliminary design review stage. The first CL-415 to undergo the modification process will be used as the prototype and is expected to be completed “with all the options” and certified by the end of 2021. Seroussi reported good progress so far, adding it will take approximately 6,000 hours of work to complete subsequent installations, after program certification and learning curve amortization is taken into account. He estimated the potential market for this avionics upgrade could exceed 100 aircraft worldwide. “The Pro Line Fusion avionics suite is well suited to this application because of its software-enabled scalability and flexible architecture,” he said. “We will start with one standard cockpit layout optimized for the 415, then we will try to familiarize the upgraded cockpit for the CL-215T as much as possible.” The baseline (core) configuration of the avionics suite will include all of the required avionics capabilities, including (but not limited to) flight director, engine hydraulic, surface control, communication and crew alerting system indications on the displays, flight management system (FMS) coupled with SBAS-GPS providing LPV capability, mutable terrain awareness warning system (TAWS), traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) II 7.1, ADS-B Out, synthetic vision, night vision imaging system compatibility, enhanced mapping, AirNav maps, voice radio, navaids systems, and a multi-function keyboard panel along with two cursor controls that provide a fully equivalent alternative to the touchscreen commands. Autopilot, flight monitoring system, weather radar, satcom, flight data recorder or datalink are a few of the numerous options that can be incorporated based on each operator's requirements. The cockpit upgrade will cost less than the alternative of incorporating three individual upgrade STCs, with each only providing one of the many new functionalities now included in the AUP core configuration. So far, there has been “significant interest” from the aerial firefighting community, and Seroussi expects that to increase once the first aircraft has been completed. He told Skies that Viking is also close to finalizing arrangements with the avionics upgrade program's CL-415 launch customer. While the work proceeds, Seroussi said Viking is also likely to utilize the advancements made in the AUP as the basis for a proposed CL-415 replacement, called the CL-515. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/avionics-upgrade-slated-for-iconic-aerial-firefighters