Britannia rules the waves, the old standard declares, but now it looks like it's going to share them with France--at least when it comes to launching the next generation of aircraft carriers.

Britain and France are on the verge of signing an agreement calling for three carriers to be designed and built in an Anglo-French partnership. The deal would be a milestone in cooperation between two countries with major differences in naval strategies and operational needs.

The reason for rapprochement is economics: At a total projected price of around $10 billion for three ships, the cost of developing and building the 65,000-ton carriers alone is too expensive for Britain and France to bear separately.

The program calls for Britain to take delivery of two aircraft carriers, the first and third, and for France to get one. The ships are slated to start entering service by 2015.

Though the plan has generated debates pro and con in both countries, announcement of an agreement seemed imminent as DTI went to press May 23, though political events in Britain could cause delays.

One indication that France is ready to commit to the partnership came in the confirmation on May 7 that the country's defense ministry has signed a 50-million Euro ($67.5-million) contract for two American-made C13-2 steam catapults for its carrier, dubbed the PA2 (Porte-Avions). This is the same type of catapult in use by the U.S. Navy on Nimitz-class carriers. No word from the ministry if there is a cancellation clause in the sales contract should the agreement fall apart.

The program, which is expected to cost Britain about 3.9 billion pounds ($7.7 billion), will be the largest military shipbuilding project in the U.K. in half a century. Unlike the Royal Navy's current Invincible-class carriers--which were designed as anti-submarine helicopter platforms and converted to support Harrier short-takeoff/vertical landing (Stovl) operations--the ships, which Britain calls CVF, will be strike platforms.

"These ships will transform the U.K.'s defensive capability," said Lord Drayson, minister of state for defense equipment and support, at a conference on the project late last year. "[They will be the] biggest ships the navy's ever had." With them, Britain can "project power or humanitarian relief on a scale not previously available."

"If Britain is to continue to engage in world affairs," he remarked, "it needs the tools for the job. The Queen Elizabeth-class carrier is that tool."

Choreographing the launch announcement has been underway for months in Britain. Government ministers and leaders of the companies bidding to build the carriers have tried to synchronize the contract awards with creation of a joint venture company to take over the U.K.'s surface warship construction sector.