Pride of French shipbuilding arrived in Athens

03 December 2009 / 05:12:34

The French aircraft carrier Charles-De-Gaulle will spend four days on Greek territory. The carrier will participate in training together with the Greek navy.

The choice for the French aircraft carrier to visit Greece is not by chance. During his visit to Greece last year, French President Nicola Sarkozi announced his ambitions for France and Greece to make a strategic cooperation. Back then he offered to lay the grounds for the so called “new union”. During the upcoming months an agreement between the two countries will be signed, which will cover the entire spectrum of defense and military partnership, on a bilateral and international level.

Charles-De-Gaulle is the only European aircraft carrier. It allows the execution of Air Force operations on a broad front for a long time anywhere in the world. It has traveled to Afghanistan, where its airplanes have participated in many successful military operations. The flight deck of the ship is 260 meters long and it is enough for a E-2C Hawk to take off and land on it. The carrier weights 40 000 tons and its top speed is 27 knots. It was designed to provide the combat activity of a group of 40 aircrafts, including French jets “Rafale" (Rafale F3). Charles-De-Gaulle can also participate in operations against land targets, attacks on maritime and air forces on land and water. It is accompanied with 4 Air Force frigates, one submarine and a refuel tank.

This is the carrier’s first time to leave France after it stayed there for several months, in order for technicians to renovate it. After the technical improvements Charles-De-Gaulle can now compete with some of the best aircraft carriers in the world.