Charles de Gaulle (R91) is the only serving French aircraft carrier and is the flagship of the French Navy (Marine Nationale). She is the tenth French aircraft carrier, the first French nuclear-powered surface vessel, and the first nuclear-powered carrier built outside of the United States Navy. She is named after French statesman and general Charles de Gaulle.The ship uses a complement of Dassault Rafale M and E-2C Hawkeye, as well as modern electronics and Aster missiles. She is the second largest European carrier, after the Admiral Kuznetsov, and arguably the most powerful European aircraft carrier, at least until the introduction of the Franco-British future carriers. It is a CATOBAR-type carrier that uses the same catapult system as that installed on the US Nimitz class carriers, the 75 m C13-3 steam catapult.
