The aircraft carrier CVN Charles-de-Gaulle

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Restored potential

With the DCNS Group acting as the prime contractor, the aim of the refueling and complex overhaul operation of the aircraft carrier CVN Charles-de-Gaulle is to bring the warship back to full operational power. The refitting work will make it possible, in particular, to update key installations such as the core of the nuclear reactor and the aircraft carrier’s information and command systems, and allow them to work at maximum capacity.

15 months of refueling and complex overhaul
Six years after the Charles-de-Gaulle was first brought into active service on May 18, 2001, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier entered the Vauban docks in Toulon on July 31, 2007 to begin, on September 1, its first major refueling and complex overhaul operation, due to last a total of 15 months, including 12 months in the dry dock and 3 months at its berth. On August 22 – the day the aircraft carrier sailed out of the dock – was a major event, demonstrating that the particularly complex refitting work had been completed according to schedule. The conditions were ideal for this delicate maneuver: the weather was perfect (a smooth sea and breeze no greater than 5 knots), the dock had been prepared and the nominal functioning and watertightness of the different equipment necessary for refloating the vessel had been validated.

Let the ship set sail!
Three months’ work was still necessary to complete the refueling and complex overhaul operation: finish cleaning the machines, modernize the structures, and gradually bring all the onboard installation back on stream… a whole array of tasks leading to a series of tests to validate the smooth functioning of the ship. Everything was organized with an ultimate deadline in mind – November 30, 2008 – to allow the gradual powering up of the Charles-de-Gaulle and its return to operational availability in the spring of 2009.

A project of titanic proportions

  • 3 years of preparatory work
    15 months in the dock
    2,530,000 hours of work
    1,700 people involved

  • 80,000 tasks to be completed
    40 tons of paint
    More than 80km of cables