The information was disclosed during a speech by President Emanuel Macron. The French head of state was aboard aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle on Monday to celebrate Christmas with the sailors.
“This Antares mission is important for many reasons: The missions accomplished, the patrol zones, the flights have reinforced the defensive and dissuasive postures of NATO in Eastern Europe, near Ukraine at war […] and the very composition of the carrier strike group with Forbin, Alsace, Provence, Marne, Suffren, the MPA detachment based in Souda, but also American destroyers Arleigh Burke, and before it the Roosevelt, the Italian frigate Virginio Fasan and some time ago the Greek frigate Adrias, yes the multi-national composition of the CSG has made it possible to show that we are resolute, reliable allies, demonstrating a high level of integration and interoperability.”
Emmanuel Macron
The French Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group (CSG) set sails from Toulon naval base on 15 November 2022 to begin mission Antares: An operational deployment in the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean.
The French Joint Forces Command in Indian Ocean (ALINDIEN) announced yesterday that the CSG transited the Suez canal and entered their area of responsibility (i.e. the Red Sea and eventually the Indian Ocean).
Contacted by Naval News, the French Navy confirmed that mission Antares marks the first time that the first-in-class SSN Suffren is integrated to the Charles de Gaulle CSG in an operational context. The French Navy however declined to comment on whether Suffren followed the CSG through Suez (Naval News understand this would also mark a first). The Marine Nationale didn’t confirm or deny on whether mission Antares marks the first ever operational mission for Suffren.
For the record, Suffren entered “active duty” (admission au service actif in French) on 3 June 2022. The second submarine in the class, Duguay-Trouin, is set to start sea trials in the coming weeks.
Suffren was spotted in Faslane, Scotland, back in September:
Submarine Suffren previously took part in the large scale exercise Polaris in December 2021. The header picture of this article was taken during Polaris.
To learn more about Suffren, check out our in-depth coverage and rare access aboard the submarine:
