The previous French carriers, and , were completed in 1961 and 1963 respectively. The requirement for a replacement was identified in the mid-1970s, which became the 40,600 tonne nuclear-powered , laid down in April 1989 at the DCNS Brest naval shipyard. This carrier was completed in May 1994, but not officially commissioned until 2001 due to a large number of problems, which included the need to lengthen the flight deck after aircraft trials, a broken propeller and vibration and noise problems. The French Navy was understood to be unwilling to proceed with another carrier of the same design and by 2003 the possibility of sharing the Royal Navy design emerged to fulfill the French requirement for a second carrier.