French Defense Minister Proposes Second Aircraft CarrierFrance needs a second aircraft carrier to better assure its responsibilities, French Defense Minister Alain Richard said Saturday in an interview with Radio France Internationale."It will be more logical that we have a second aircraft carrier to guarantee a permanent possibility to deploy massive forces to spots where we have particular responsibilities," Richard said. The project of the second aircraft carrier should be studied " in a European context," he noted, "since the interventions that France might make will be made with cooperation of other (European) countries." The new carrier, expected to be of a better capacity than that of Charles de Gaulle -- France's first carrier now undergoing a two-month reparation, should be built up in this decade, he added. The project still awaits approval from the government, and the position of the British government will also be considered, the defense minister said. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |