Reuters
Source: 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.
