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Article wrote:Actually, the French had planned to built a second nuclear powered carrier, but they are having so many problems with the first one that they are quite reluctant about building another one. Britain is building two 50,000 ton conventionally powered carriers, at a cost of $2.5 billion each. France would order a third of this class, and bring down the cost of all three a bit. The new French nuclear carrier "Charles de Gaulle" has suffered from a seemingly endless string of problems. The 40,000 ton ship has cost over four billion dollars so far and is slower than the diesel powered carrier it replaced. Flaws in the "de Gaulle" have led it to using the propellers from it predecessor, the "Foch," because the ones built for "de Gaulle" never worked right. Worse, the nuclear reactor installation was done poorly, exposing the engine crew to five times the allowable annual dose of radiation. There were also problems with the design of the deck, making it impossible to operate the E-2 radar aircraft that are essential to defending the ship and controlling offensive operations. Many other key components of the ship did not work correctly, and the carrier has been under constant repair and modification. The "de Gaulle" took eleven years to build (1988-99) and was not ready for service until late 2000. It's been downhill ever since.
Haha, why is it that everything with the "De Gaulle" nametag ends up being poison? I remember an article sometime ago where some French defense official was comparing their new vaunted carrier to a British one and bragging how much better it is; amusing that they're now going up to the British and buying the "inferior" models. A "French Navy" is an oxymoron in itself. Anyway, what do you British think about the French kissing your ass to get you into the EU?
"I don't say the French can't come. I say they can't come by sea!"
-Admiral St. Vincent, during the aborted attempt by Napolean to invade England.
People have been making this joke since 1940. Time to drop it mayhaps?
And now I'm sure people are going to throw stuff like Indochina and all the other stuff France has lost since WWII, but the fact of the matter is that every army is incompetent. It's just that France has always been up against less incompetent armies.
People have been making this joke since 1940. Time to drop it mayhaps?
And now I'm sure people are going to throw stuff like Indochina and all the other stuff France has lost since WWII, but the fact of the matter is that every army is incompetent. It's just that France has always been up against less incompetent armies.
I wasn't actually referring to the French military being sucky (that's a whole other issue), but I mentioned this vessel because of the problems it has, specifically the levels of radiation being exposed to the crew. However if this were a US vessel, you can bet your ass that there would be criticisms abound for it.
And to correct what you said, armies aren't incompetent. The politicians who run them are.
Very true. The French could have done okay in Indochina if some asshat politician hadn't told the army to hold Laos at all costs, a stupid order which led to the Dien Bien Phu defeat.
