By Florence Loeve
PARIS, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The US has not yet decided whether to abandon the electromagnetic launch system for aircraft carriers, France's navy chief said on Wednesday, two months after President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy to drop the technology that France has chosen for its next carrier.
Trump ordered the Navy in August to revert to the older steam-powered catapults, calling the electromagnetic system unreliable. The move raised doubts over the future supply of the technology,
which is used for launching jet fighters from the ships.
"The American decision has not yet been taken," Admiral Christophe Cluzel, chief of France’s naval staff, told a parliamentary hearing. "I do not see our contract threatened."
The US Embassy in France did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The situation highlights France's reliance on US technology for the vital component of its next-generation aircraft carrier, the France Libre, due to replace the ageing Charles de Gaulle around 2038. European dependence on US defence technology has come under growing scrutiny as the continent seeks greater strategic autonomy.
Cluzel added that he had a meeting scheduled with his American counterpart next week, and that he thought the topic would be discussed.
The Admiral was answering a question from a member of parliament about the dependency of the French aircraft carrier, a key part of its nuclear deterrence, on an American technology, and the possibility that it could be left without supply if the US turned to steam catapults.
"It’s a dependency that within the framework of the programme was accepted and considered to be under control", the navy chief said. He added that France would buy a substantial stock of spare parts from the beginning of the programme. Naval Group is leading the construction of the carrier.
However, Cluzel also said that a study was planned to examine France’s capacity to design such catapults, its potential costs and delivery times, with conclusions expected in 2028.
"I think we would be able to do it, but on timelines that go far beyond the service-entry horizon of the France Libre, and at a unit cost that would obviously be considerably higher", he said.
(Reporting by Florence Loève; Writing by Dominique Vidalon and Florence Loève; Editing by Makini Brice and Xevi Fontdegloria)
