French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle

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Charles de Gaulle (R91; French: [ʃaʁl(ə) də ɡol] ) is the flagship of the French Navy. Commissioned in 2001, the ship is the tenth French aircraft carrier, the first French nuclear-powered surface vessel, and the only nuclear-powered carrier completed outside of the United States Navy. It is named after French president and general Charles de Gaulle. The ship carries a complement of Dassault Rafale M and E-2C Hawkeye aircraft, AS365F Dauphin Pedro, EC725 Caracal and AS532 Cougar helicopters for combat search and rescue, as well as modern electronics and Aster missiles. She is a CATOBAR-type carrier that uses two 75 m (246 ft) C13‑3 steam catapults of a shorter version of the catapult system installed on the US Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, one at the bow and one at the waist. As of March 2026, Charles de Gaulle and the Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian were the only non-American aircraft carriers equipped with catapult launch systems. The catapults on Charles de Gaulle allow it to operate...

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