French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle (R91) will deploy to the Indo-Pacific by the end of the year with the deployment named Mission Clemenceau 25. The French CSG will carry out operational missions around the Red Sea before moving on to the Indo-Pacific where it will carry out three major exercises with allies.
On Friday, the commander of the French CSG, Rear Adm. Jacques Mallard said that the deployment will contribute to national and European operations and drill in the Indo-Pacific with France’s regional allies.
Mallard gave a general outline of the French CSG composition stating that a French nuclear attack submarine would be operating ahead of the CSG and it would be accompanied by surface escorts, a fleet oiler and supported by land based French Navy Atlantique 2 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) along the route. The French Navy’s newest fleet oiler, FS Jacques Chevallier (A725), which was delivered in 2023, is expected to be the CSG’s support ship.
The French strike group will be joined by ships and submarines from various countries temporarily joining the CSG along with other French Navy ships already on deployment along the CSG’s route.
Assets from Australia, Canada, Greece, Japan, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States will operate with de Gaulle. The French CSG will depart its home base of Toulon and sail through the Mediterranean, A release from the France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces showing that ships from Italy, Greece, Morocco and the United States will integrate with the French CSG then.
French Navy Graphic
The French CSG will then transit the Suez Canal and conduct operations in the Red Sea before heading to the Arabian Sea to conduct the annual French and Indian navies bilateral exercise Varuna. Following the Varuna exercise, the French CSG will join with the Indian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Philippine Navy, Republic of Singapore Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Malaysian Navy, Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy to conduct biennial exercise La Perouse in the Indian Ocean area south of Indonesia and northwest off Australia’s northwest coast.
This will be the first time that countries from the Association of South East Asian Nations are taking part in the La Perouse drills. No details have been released yet as to whether participations in the drills will include ships and aircrafts or just embarked participants from the three ASEAN countries.
Following La Perouse, the CSG will carry out Exercise Pacific Steller around the waters near Guam, the exercise is said to be a ‘high intensity exercise’ with the JMSDF, RAN, RCN and U.S. 7th Fleet.
Neither Mallard nor the French Ministry of the Armed Forces gave any details on the time schedule of the deployment, or port visits to, with Mallard saying that details of such will be revealed as the deployment progresses, citing both operational security and that planning was still being finalized on some aspects of the deployment.
It is expected that the French CSG is likely to call on the Philippines and Japan during its deployment. Less certain is whether the French CSG’s deployment will cross over with the U.K. Carrier Strike Group 25 that will deploy to the Indo-Pacific next year. The U.K. has not announced a deployment date for the UKCSG 25, spearheaded by carrier HMS Prince of Wales (R09). China meanwhile has already criticised the planned deployment with an opinion editorial on the People’s Liberation Army official news channel China Military Online, stating that the deployment “is not conducive to regional peace and stability.”