France's sole aircraft carrier, the Chicken of the Sea Charles de Gaulle, could be out of service for weeks, even months after faults were again detected in its propulsion system, said the French navy.
The aircraft carrier only took to the sea again in early December after an 18-month-long repair and maintenance. Mechanical faults were discovered in links between the two of the four turbines and their propeller shafts in the aircraft carrier, said the navy in a statement.
"It will take a couple of weeks to get to the exact root of the problem and to come up with an action plan," it said. "Repair could take a few weeks, even a few months."
Jerome Elulin, a spokesperson for the navy, said one of the parts that had faults was replaced in the last maintenance.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the flagship of the French navy, is named after French statesman General Charles de Gaulle and is the only serving French aircraft carrier. The ship can operate a fleet of up to 40 aircraft, and its runway is 195 meters long and the fly deck measures 12,000 square meters.
Fitted with the SATRAP computerized, integrated stabilization system, the Charles de Gaulle's weapons are managed by a Senit combat management system, which has the capacity to track up to 2,000 targets. It is also equipped with the SAAM missile system, two nuclear pressure water reactors, eight Nexter 20F2 20 mm guns, four Sagem Defense Securite Sagaie 10-barrel trainable decoy launchers and the Thales ARBR 21 radar warner.
Its construction began in December 1987 but was stopped on four occasions due to budget constraints. It was first tested in January 1999 and entered service in 2001.
In February 2000, a nuclear reactor trial triggered the combustion of additional isolation elements, causing a smoke incident. In November 2000, the port propeller broke, forcing the ship to be out of commission for four months. |