Backgrounder: France's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle

PARIS, March 14 -- France's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, could be out of service for weeks, even months after faults were again detected in its propulsion system, the French navy said Friday.

The ship only took to the sea again last December after 18 months of repair and maintenance.

The carrier, the flagship of the French navy, is named after French statesman General Charles de Gaulle and is the country's only serving aircraft carrier.

The ship, started under construction in November 1987, was completed in May 1994 at a cost of 18.5 billion francs (about 3.5 billion U.S. dollars) at that time.

The ship was first tested in January 1999 and officially entered service in 2001, replacing the retired aircraft carriers Clemenceau and Foch, which were built in the late 1950s.

With a 12,000-square-meter landing deck and a 4,600-square-meter hangar deck, the Charles de Gaulle can operate a fleet of up to 40 aircraft.

Thanks to its two nuclear pressure water reactors, the ship can have a maximum speed of 27 knots.

The Charles de Gaulle is the most sophisticated, highest performance warship ever built in Europe.

Fitted with the SATRAP computerized, integrated stabilization system, the ship's weapons are managed by a Senit combat management system, which has the capacity to track up to 2,000 targets.

It is also equipped with a SAAM missile system, eight Nexter 20F2 20 mm guns, four Sagem Defense Securite Sagaie 10-barrel trainable decoy launchers and the Thales ARBR 21 radar warner.

The aircraft carrier participated in four major military operations from 2001 to 2007, including the air support mission for NATO and U.S. troops against the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in 2001.

Since its sea trials in 1999, the Charles de Gaulle previously encountered problems, the most serious of which was in November 2000, when the port propeller broke, forcing the ship out of commission for four months.

French Defense Minister Herve Morin said last month during a visit to the Charles de Gaulle that a second aircraft carrier would be "reasonable" if needed, but would not be started until 2012.