The French Navy Buys British

Oho! It would appear that our Froggie frinds have a bit of a problem with military procurement. Glenn Reynolds excerpts a few choice bits from an article discussing the $4 billion French aircraft carrier, the Charles De Gaulle. In the end, it appears that the French will buy a British made aircraft carrier for $2.5 billion. Some of the problems:

The 40,000 ton ship has cost over four billion dollars so far and is slower than the diesel powered carrier it replaced. Flaws in the "de Gaulle" have led it to using the propellers from it predecessor, the "Foch," because the ones built for "de Gaulle" never worked right. Worse, the nuclear reactor installation was done poorly, exposing the engine crew to five times the allowable annual dose of radiation. There were also problems with the design of the deck, making it impossible to operate the E-2 radar aircraft that are essential to defending the ship and controlling offensive operations. Many other key components of the ship did not work correctly, and the carrier has been under constant repair and modification. The "de Gaulle" took eleven years to build (1988-99) and was not ready for service until late 2000. It's been downhill ever since.

In comparison, a Nimitz class carrier costs the U.S. a little over $4 billion in 1997 dollars. That's just for acquisition, of course as modernization and ongoing costs add to the real cost of the ship.

Mayhaps the 35 hour work week needs to be shortened even more to keep the overworked shipbuilders fresh and improve quality?