France’s sole aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is wrapping up a major deployment to the Asia-Pacific, which saw its air wing work closely with regional partners.
The nuclear-powered warship is carrying 22 Dassault Aviation Rafale M fighters and two Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft. Also embarked are a pair of Airbus Helicopters AS365 Dauphins and a single NH Industries NH90.
Supporting the embarked air wing are a pair of Dassault-Breguet Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft, which operate from air bases in friendly nations.
Under the ‘Clemenceau 25’ deployment, the ship is leading a carrier strike group which incorporates destroyers tasked with air defence and anti-submarine warfare. A media release from the French embassy in Singapore suggests that an attack submarine also accompanies the strike group.
FlightGlobal visited the warship during a port call in Singapore.
Captain Yann-Eric, the ship’s executive officer, says the long voyage to the Asia-Pacific created challenges for flight operations, given different weather and swell conditions than the ship normally encounters in the Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean Sea. In the Indian Ocean near the equator, for example, the carrier had aircraft airborne when the weather suddenly changed.
“Aircraft were airborne, and we had to understand if [the weather] was just for a short time and we could wait for better weather, or if it was something lasting.”
To provide a safety margin, the ship establishes contact with diversion airfields should it be deemed too risky to recover an aircraft owing to bad weather or technical problems.
Yann-Eric says that in a conflict or exercise situation the carrier can launch up to 30 aircraft daily from its two catapults. This involves a first wave of 15 aircraft which is launched and subsequently recovered. After the aircraft are checked and rearmed, another wave of 15 is launched.
The Dauphins provide a search and rescue capability and can also be used as scouts to observe nearby shipping. The NH90 has some anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability, but the Charles de Gaulle relies on its destroyer escorts to protect it from submarines and other threats, freeing its Rafale Ms for offensive operations.
Unlike US Navy (USN) carriers, Charles de Gaulle lacks dedicated carrier-on-board delivery aircraft – in the USN, this role is served by the Grumman C-2 Greyhound and its replacement, the Bell Boeing CMV-22B Osprey. When deployed, the French navy vessel carries over 1 million spare parts for its air wing. Spare Safran Aircraft Engines M88s for the Rafales are also carried in large containers that can be moved around the ship with forklifts.
According to strike force commander Rear Admiral Jacques Mallard, the primary focus of Clemenceau 25 is working with partners in the region such as Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
This included the Pacific Stellar exercise conducted from 7-18 February with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) aircraft carrier JS Kaga (the ship is officially a multi-purpose destroyer) and the USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class nuclear carrier.
Kaga has undergone modifications to operate the Lockheed Martin F-35B, but these assets have yet to be embarked. The three carriers focused on interoperability in missions such as surface, air, and ASW.
“For Pacific Stellar, the goal was having aircraft carriers working together,” says Mallard.
Activities during the exercise included using data links, air-to-air manoeuvres, and interoperability. The work also included the “cross-deck” refuelling of aircraft, with USN Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets landing and refuelling on Charles de Gaulle, and Rafale Ms landing and refuelling on Carl Vinson.
USN F-35Cs from Carl Vinson were not involved in cross-deck activities. Yann-Eric indicates that the F-35C has never “trapped” aboard Charles de Gaulle. The type’s short take-off, vertical-landing F-35B variant has also yet to visit the French carrier.
Helping the JMSDF – which has not operated aircraft carriers since the Second World War – learn the ropes of naval aviation was also an emphasis of Pacific Stellar.
“Pacific Stellar gave [the JMSDF] a road ahead to build capacity,” says Mallard. “We had an interesting exchange, both with our US and Japanese counterparts, about how we operate from an aircraft carrier. They were interested in knowledge about this kind of operation.”
Charles de Gaulle’s previous visit to the Asia-Pacific occurred in 2019, a year after it completed a major upgrade programme. France is developing a replacement aircraft carrier that is projected to enter service in 2028.
Following Singapore, the Charles de Gaulle strike group will travel to southern India, where it will participate in the annual Franco-Indian Varuna naval exercise.
