France is preparing for the deployment of its flagship Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the next four weeks, the French navy has announced, amid reports it may head to Asia-Pacific waters.
The navy said in a press release that the crew of the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle carried out a three-week training session on Oct. 4-25 in the Mediterranean in order to regain operational capability after a recent technical shutdown that lasted nearly four months.
The crew has now embarked on a final four-week logistical and operational preparation at the quayside before the next deployment of the Charles de Gaulle in a “constituted carrier battle group,” the navy said in the release without specifying where the carrier strike group would be heading to.
Before this announcement, however, the Naval News quoted a senior French officer as saying that the months-long deployment would take place in the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and “possibly the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean.”
The carrier strike group could make first, “historic” calls to Japan and the Philippines, the Paris-based publication said.
Apart from the Charles de Gaulle, the strike group may include several other warships, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, a logistics support ship and some support and assistance vessels. The air wing is set to include two E-2C Hawkeye AEW aircraft, 24 Rafale Marine jets and four helicopters.
About 3,000 sailors and naval aviators would take part in several exercises during the deployment, among which a multinational exercise would “focus on the theme of maritime security in the Indonesian straits,” Naval News said.
China’s reaction
“This deployment is significant because it marks a major expansion of France’s presence in the Indo-Pacific,” said Benjamin Blandin, a network coordinator at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies.
“Since the announcement of France’s Indo-Pacific Strategy in 2019, the French military’s presence in the region has really grown and diversified,” Blandin told Radio Free Asia.
Last week, Taiwan’s ministry of defense said that a French naval vessel sailed through the Taiwan Strait from the south to the north. Notably, the Prairial (F731) – a Floreal-class frigate – was sailing on the west side of the median line closer to China, unlike U.S. and Canadian ships, which normally pass east of the median line closer to Taiwan.
Beijing did not immediately protest against the transit but on Nov. 4, the Communist Party-sanctioned Global Times published an article denouncing the possible deployment of the Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group in the Indo-Pacific.
The Chinese news outlet quoted analysts as saying that the deployment “is an attempt to pander to NATO’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific, which is detrimental to regional peace and stability.”
Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times that despite being the only country outside the U.S. that possesses a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, France’s strength in this area was limited.
Zhang warned that “neither the countries nor the people of the Asia-Pacific region want external forces to build up their military presence in the region to sow discord and intensify regional tensions.”
French comeback
Paris has a long history of involvement in the region and after a period of relative inactivity, it seems it is making a strategic comeback.
France has several arms deals in the Asia-Pacific, with Indonesia, Singapore and most recently, a US$438-million aid project to provide 40 patrol vessels and logistical support to the Philippine Coast Guard.
“The Philippines can be seen as one of the new cornerstones of France’s strategic presence in the region,” said Blandin.
France and the Philippines agreed to enhance cooperation in December 2023 and a French defense attaché office was established in the Philippines in May this year.
Frigate Vendémiaire participated in the Balikatan exercise in April and the destroyer Bretagne made a port call in Manila from May 31 to June 4. The frigate Prairial that recently transited the Taiwan Strait also conducted a goodwill visit to Cebu between Oct. 22-25.
“The French military is in the process of negotiating a visiting forces agreement with the Philippines, which is expected to conclude in the first semester of 2025,” said Blandin. “Paris wants to put its name back on the map.”
RELATED STORIES
Joint exercise Sama Sama in South China Sea enters key phase
New UK government raises question of change in South China Sea policy
Germany, France, UK Rebuke Beijing Over South China Sea
Edited by Mike Firn.