“It is entirely useful to have it for the war the day after tomorrow,” assures General Vincent Desportes

Emmanuel Macron announced yesterday that a new aircraft carrier will be built by 2038.

“It is entirely useful to have it, not for the war of tomorrow, but for the war of the day after tomorrow”declared Monday December 22 on franceinfo General Vincent Desportes, geopolitician and former director of the War School, after Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday that a new aircraft carrier would be built by 2038 to replace the Charles-de-Gaulle.

“We have the second exclusive economic zone” in the world, thanks to the overseas departments and the communities present in the oceans, and “we must protect her”justifies General Vincent Desportes. This zone is the maritime space off its coast, up to 200 nautical miles, or 370 km, over which France has sovereign rights regarding the exploitation of resources. The French EEZ is the second largest in the world, with almost 11 million square kilometers, just behind that of the United States.

While the flagship of the French fleet, the Charles de Gaulle, was commissioned in 2001, the geopolitician says that it is necessary “pivoting yesterday’s operations in which the Charles de Gaulle participated to tomorrow’s operations”. The future aircraft carrier “We will have to adapt to a threat that we do not know and which is the threat in fifteen years”warns General Vincent Desportes. This threat “is increasing” And “diversifies”he continues. The new military building must be “ready to fight against Chinese hypersonic missiles, against underwater drones which are not yet perfect, but which in fifteen years will be extremely deadly”but also “resist swarms of 100 to 150,000 drones that could hit it”. General Vincent Desportes argues that the aircraft carrier “must be built on the latest technologies, which will have to evolve constantly since the threat is constantly evolving”.

Beyond the announced cost of 10 billion euros, “we must add the planes: a Rafale Marine equipped with its weapons is around 200 million, so there are 30, we are more around 20 billion euros”he specifies. “When you put a carrier group at sea, that’s 30 billion that you put at sea”summarizes General Vincent Desportes.