government ordered studies about another architecture and design casting even more doubt on the likelihood of the French Navy using the current British design. The option of nuclear propulsion was also put back on the table, and if selected would have required a completely different approach. An option similar to the Azimuth thruster used on the ships was also considered. Design considerations The French carrier would have been built by an alliance of Thales and DCNS using the proposed design of a long, 75,000 tonne variant of the Queen Elizabeth class. While the UK had chosen to continue to use STOVL configuration for its new carriers, the design could also be reconfigured to a CATOBAR configuration for French requirements. The French variant would have most likely operated the Dassault Rafale, the E-2C Hawkeye and the NH-90 fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. Being a CATOBAR design, PA2 would have been equipped with the same long C13-2 steam catapults as those installed on the aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. The crew of PA2 was expected to be about 1,650, a significant decrease from the 1,950 crew of Charles de Gaulle, indicating the high level of automation integrated into the ship's systems. The ship would have had two islands: one devoted to ship navigation, and the other to air operations. Allowing optimal placement of bridges for both tasks; navigation calls for a bridge placed forward (as on Charles De Gaulle), while air operations are made easier with a bridge placed aft (as seen on the US Nimitz class). The original design had to meet the Royal Navy's requirements, so nuclear propulsion was not an option: the British government rejected nuclear propulsion as too costly. Before cancellation the carrier's propulsion system was expected to be an integrated full electric propulsion (IFEP) based on two Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines. The carrier would have had a range of approximately . Construction considerations The hull was likely to be built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint Nazaire, and fitted out by DCN at Brest. The ship was likely to be based at Toulon naval base whose two dry docks can accommodate even the larger Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. Name considerations At the time, it had been proposed to name the aircraft carrier Richelieu, after Cardinal Richelieu, which was the name originally intended for Charles de Gaulle. See also Future French aircraft carrier References Aircraft carriers of France