France is building a carrier so large that it changes the scale of European naval aviation. The planned PANG, or Porte-Avions de Nouvelle Génération, is set to become Europe’s biggest warship at roughly 310 meters and about 78,000 tons, a sharp break from the much smaller Charles de Gaulle it is meant to replace in 2038.
That size matters because France is not simply renewing an aging flagship. It is redesigning how it wants to operate at sea for decades, with a ship built around heavier future aircraft, nuclear endurance, and more electrically demanding systems. In a region where most carrier operators rely on smaller ships or short-takeoff aviation, PANG points to a different model: a catapult-launched, nuclear-powered carrier able to support sustained operations far from home waters.
The engineering leap is substantial. Charles de Gaulle displaces about 42,000 tons; PANG nearly doubles that. The new ship is expected to use two K22 nuclear reactors, each producing about 220 megawatts, giving the vessel the electrical margin needed not only for propulsion and ship systems but also for more advanced aviation support. That includes a full electromagnetic launch and recovery architecture, a major departure from the steam catapults of France’s current carrier. The design also reflects a broader naval trend: future carriers are increasingly judged not just by flight deck area, but by how much electrical power they can generate, distribute, and adapt over a service life that can stretch across half a century. PANG’s all-electric approach is intended to support sensors, data processing, launch systems, and later upgrades without forcing a redesign of the ship’s basic architecture. That makes the carrier less a single platform than an expandable power and aviation hub.
Its most consequential feature may be the launch system. France is moving toward a third EMALS catapult track, reinforcing the idea that the ship is being built for mixed air operations rather than a conventional fighter deck alone. That matters because French naval planners are designing around the next generation of aircraft, not just today’s Rafale M. Captain Thibault Lavernhe described the benefit of the new system in direct operational terms: “It will be several tonnes more than we can do now on Charles de Gaulle.” He was referring to the expected gain in fighter takeoff weight from EMALS testing in the United States, where compatibility tests with Rafale M fighters have supported integration work.
PANG is also being shaped around a future air wing that may include the Next Generation Fighter from the FCAS program, E-2D-class airborne early warning aircraft, helicopters, and uncrewed systems. Available program descriptions indicate an embarked group centered on roughly 30 combat aircraft, with broader deck and hangar capacity for a larger overall air package. That still falls well short of the U.S. Navy’s supercarrier scale. As of 2026, the United States operates 11 active nuclear-powered supercarriers, each larger and backed by a far deeper support system. PANG does not erase that gap. It highlights it.
There is another tension inside the program. France presents the carrier as a pillar of strategic autonomy, yet one of its most important technologies comes from the United States through a Foreign Military Sales case. The result is not contradiction so much as a modern industrial reality: autonomy now depends as much on controlling integration, doctrine, and deployment as on building every major component at home. PANG therefore says less about matching the U.S. Navy ship for ship than about preserving a rare capability. In Europe, that alone makes it a very large statement.
