The Price of Prestige

76 chapter three

attention- grabbing media images, the imposing carrier group’s actual con-

tribution to the war effort is less impressive.

Unlike Britain, France has opted to procure a large nuclear- powered

carrier. The French carrier (Charles de Gaulle) is the first nuclear- powered

surface warship to be built in Western Europe and is the largest warship

built for a European navy since Britain’s conventionally propelled carrier

Eagle was launched in 1950. Currently, France is the only European coun-

try to operate a CATOBAR carrier, and the Charles de Gaulle is the only

non- American vessel to somewhat approach the capabilities of a Nimitz-

class carrier (Miller 1994 ). The decision to build the Charles de Gaulle

was taken in 1980 , at a time when Britain was commissioning its STOVL

carriers. It took France almost twenty years and close to three billion dol-

lars to bring this project to completion (Hebrard 1999 , 63 ). The French in-

sistence on a uniquely French design (complete with passageways named

after Paris streets and a wine bar) resulted in an embarrassing series of

mishaps and technical failures that delayed the commissioning of the ship,

increased its price far beyond the original estimations, and continues to

affect its operability (Gordon 2015 ). Even without such problems, on

average, carriers are only operational for a third of the year. With only

one technologically challenged carrier, and despite the immense cost, the

French Navy can expect the Charles de Gaulle to be available only a lim-

ited portion of the year.

India

India currently has two operational aircraft carriers, the Vikramaditya

(formerly the Kiev- class Russian carrier Admiral Gorshkov) and the ag-

ing Viraat (formerly HMS Hermes). In late 1999 , India concluded a deal

to purchase the inoperative Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.

However, never- ending negotiations and constant price hikes have delayed

the refitting. Critics have argued that with the delays and constant increases

in price (currently more than three times the original estimates, more than

a decade of delay, and over $US 2. 3 billion in total cost), the Admiral Gor-

shkov proved more expensive than a new carrier (Kainikara 2000 ; Pant

2009 ). The Gorshkov saga was finally concluded with its recommission-

ing as the Vikramaditya in 2013. The Viraat, India’s second carrier, was

launched in 1953 based on a World War II model, making it the oldest car-

rier in service in the world. The Viraat is expected to be replaced by India’s

indigenously designed carriers, which are currently under construction