How shipyard politics constrained the carrier's design

A dispute between the French government and the country's largest shipyard, along with periods of foreign ownership, shaped the decision to build at the second-largest yard. Naval Group could build the carrier, but expanding its yard would have required additional investment that the government declined. The available yard therefore constrained Charles de Gaulle's size. The British comparison includes the Queen Elizabeth class building dock and its seaward entrance, plus retractable masts for passage under the Forth bridges. Spending on the warship design did not ensure that the government would also fund infrastructure to remove these limits.