It wasn’t long ago that Brazil planned to retrofit its vintage aircraft carrier Sao Paulo to last until 2039. No longer. Instead, Brazil will retire the 32,800-ton flattop during the next three years, according to a report in IHS Jane’s. With Argentina having given up on carriers, Brazil’s decision will leave the United States with the only operational carriers in the Western Hemisphere. Sao Paulo was originally the Foch , a Clemenceau -class carrier which first launched in 1960. During her 40 years in service with the French navy, Foch ’s air wings dodged Yemeni MiGs, intervened in the Lebanese civil war and bombed Serbia during the Kosovo conflict. France sold Foch to Brazil in 2000, and the renamed Sao Paulo carried out exercises and launched Brazil’s AF-1 Skyhawk attack planes from her flat, catapult-launch deck — similar to U.S. carriers and the Charles de Gaulle , France’s sole remaining fleet carrier...
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