French aircraft carrier to take part to Clemenceau mission.

Today, on March 05, French Minister of Defense, Florence Parly, will go onboard the French aircraft carrier, the "Charles de Gaulle" as it will start an operational mission (called “Clemenceau”) for some months.

The French aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle (Picture source : Philippe Wojazer)

This mission will see the deployment of the Naval Air Group (“Groupe Aéronaval” ou “GAN” in French), which will include the aircraft carrier “Charles de Gaulle”, an anti-air frigate, a multi-mission frigate, a commandment ship, and a nuclear submarine. All along the mission, this “GAN” will be supported by allied vessels coming from Portugal, Denmark, the UK, Italy, Australia, and the U.S.

During this maritime operation, the “GAN” will first of all go through the Mediterranean Sea, where it will take part to the international conflict against ISIS (“Daech” in French). Afterwards, the “GAN” fleet will pursue its operation through the Gulf and then through the Indian Ocean, ending it at Singapore, for the Shangri-La dialogue.

After its 18 months of critical technical stop, the Charles de Gaulle is now capable of accommodating 30 Rafale aircraft and 2 Hawkeye helicopters. It has also received other improvements.