According to information published by the French MoD on December 23, 2022, the French Navy's Charles de Gaulle Carrier Strike Group (CSG) transited the Suez Canal.
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French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. (Picture source: French MoD)
Charles de Gaulle is the flagship of the French Navy. The ship, commissioned in 2001, 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.
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 C13‑3 steam catapults of a shorter version of the catapult system installed on the US Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, one catapult at the bow and one across the front of the landing area.
The aircraft carrier De Gaulle has a length of 261 meters, a beam of 64.36 m (overall), and 31.5 m (waterline). She has a draught of 9.43 m (30.9 ft) and a displacement of approximately 40,000 tons.
The carrier air group (le groupe aérien embarqué) operates three squadrons (11F, 12F, 17F) of fifteen Rafale M aircraft each, and one squadron (4f) of three E-2C Hawkeye aircraft. These are the: Flottille 11F, Flottille 12F, Flottille 17F and Flottille 4F.
Typically two Rafale squadrons are expected to rotate in the Charles de Gaulle carrier air group, and a pair of E-2Cs would supplement them. In peacetime, the number of aircraft on board may be lower: 30/40 Rafale M, 2 E-2C Hawkeye and 2/4 AS365 Dauphin helicopters.
Although 30 Rafales, divided into two squadrons, are expected to be on board, usually some aircraft remain in France for upgrade or training. US Navy F-18 Hornets and C-2 Greyhounds regularly conduct qualification traps and launches from Charles de Gaulle.
In June 2011, two US Navy C-2A(R) Greyhounds were assigned to the French Navy to conduct operational carrier on-board delivery (COD) missions for Charles de Gaulle during the NATO intervention in Libya.
