The PA76 Light Aircraft Carrier or as I call it the Voltiere class Light Aircraft Carrier was a proposal derived from the cancelled nuclear PH-75 Helicopter carrier
The PA76 had a standard displacement of 16,400 tonnes and a full displacement of 19,400 tonnes, she was 630 w.l in length and 87 w.l in width.
Instead of the Aerva CAS-230 Nuclear Reactor, She was to be powered by two Rolls-Royce Marine Olympus TM3 Gas turbines and two AGO Diesels with two shafts generating 65,000 horsepower for a speed of 28 knots.
Her Radar systems were probably to be very impressive as its air defence radar consisted of a DRBV-26 Jupiter Air-Search Radar and DBRV-51 Air-Search Radar, its missiles would be guided by a DRBC-32 Fire-Direction Radar and its Anti-Submarine Sonar is the DUBA-25 Tarpon Anti-Submarine Sonar.
The Ship’s Armament was to be two 8-cell Crotale SAM for sixteen cells and two 120mm guns of an unknown type.
The PA-76 was to have two catapults with a capacity of 25-30 aircraft and helicopters presumably the Dassault Super Etendard strike aircraft with Breguet Alize carrier based Anti-Submarine Warfare planes and Sud-Aviation SA321G Super Frelon carrier based Anti-Submarine Warfare Helicopter
Why wasn’t it built well as Reddit User Keyan_F explains
The answer should be obvious tbh: in 1976-77, most of the Western world, including France, is reeling from the aftershocks of the 1973 Oil crisis (and a second shock will come soon), defence budgets worldwide are heavily curtailed and it’s clearly not the time to build a big nuclear warship. During the same period, Presidents Ford, then Carter refuses to approve funding to build more Nimitzes, and even Zumwalt’s CVV has trouble gaining traction.
Also, even if France had the funding to build such a ship, they very probably would have found out that building either an updated but still conventional powered Clemenceau or a full sized nuclear powered carrier (the Richelieu project) would give a better bang per buck, an issue that scuppered the aforementioned CVV.
Personal Opinion
This should have been built as it would have given the French more ships and allowed the Clemenceau class ships for power projection duties but why didn’t they built this and what might the ramifications have been had the PA76 gone into use? and what might the French have named her?
diamondsofthenight 
