At a private event focusing on France’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific, senior officers from the French Navy, including an Admiral, shared some details about Clemenceau 25 revealing behind-the-scenes details of a particularly intense deployment in terms of operations, diplomacy and technology. The latter enabled the full capabilities of the French carrier strike group (CSG) to be deployed and major technological firsts to be conducted.
During the ‘Clemenceau 25’ mission, the French CSG deployed to the Pacific, a first for the French Navy since the 1960s. While there was obviously a strong commitment to diplomacy, the CSG was not simply on a courtesy deployment, but on a mission: reaffirm French presence in an area where it owns national interests.
A tense environment
While fortunately there were no clashes during the deployment, pressure was brought to bear on the force’s vessels to send ‘messages’, whether to make territorial claims clear or to take the task force’s “pulse”.
Encounters with the PLAN
The CSG was under constant surveillance by France’s competitors, according to the Navy representatives present. Whether overflown by Russian Su-35 off Syria, or welcomed by Chinese ships in South-East Asia. “The presence of the French CSG is both annoying and of great interest to our competitors. As soon as we entered the Luzon Strait, we were shadowed, in particular by a PLAN Type 54 frigate” a senior officer explained. The officer went on to say that they counted between thirty and forty Chinese ships (not counting the militias’ small vessels) in an area equivalent to three quarters of the Mediterranean, which is very “substantial”. “We were ready for anything,” says the Admiral, answering a question about possible confrontations. The French CSG also ‘met’ a Chinese aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.
According to the officials, if no confrontation took place, it is because of the large force that the CSG represents. But beyond that, it was also a question of China “making the French passage invisible”, theorizes a senior officer, which would explain why no communication came out. Their reaction might have been different with the Americans. The sailor hypothesized that the no-action could demonstrate a difference in China’s position towards France and that towards the United States.
In response to a question from the table, the Admiral also revealed that no French ships passed through the Taiwan Strait. In fact, a FREMM and the replenishment tanker docked at Okinawa and stayed away. “At the time, we didn’t think it would be useful to go through the Strait. One of our frigates, the ‘Prairial’, had already done so a few months earlier,” explains the officer.
Red Sea transit
If there was no shortage of tense moments, the passage through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and through the Straits of Hormuz, whether on the way out or on the way back, surely stood out. The Houthi rebels actions did not stop during the passage of the CSG, but neither the aircraft carrier nor its escort were targeted. However, as the geostrategic situation had changed between the outward and return journeys, the risk was much greater on the return journey. “The geostrategic situation had changed between our first passage and our return: the American bombing raids on the Houthi positions had taken place in the meantime. So, the situation was even more tense. There was a ‘fear’ that the Houties would mistake our aircraft carrier for an American”, explains the senior officer.
However, it was a different story for the FREMM ‘Alsace’ – part of the carrier’s escort. The FREMM was asked to contribute to Operation ASPIDES during its return transit, and it seems that it engaged two UAVs. On its return to Toulon, a local shipspotter noticed the presence of 2 UAV drawings on its 76mm main gun. While one interception was reported by a French media, details on the second one are less clear.
Technological innovations
The sailors on the pannel did not really expand on the subject. Indeed, the operational aspects of the new equipment remain highly confidential.
However, as Naval News had already reported, the CSG was carrying datacenters for the first time, capable of multiplying the ship’s computing power and, above all, simulating all kinds of scenarios.
At a parliamentary hearing, the Navy’s Chief of Staff mentioned the presence of these onboard data hubs. “During Clemenceau 25, we installed 4 data hubs on different ships of the CSG and connected them to each other […]. They were very interesting. Using these hubs coupled with AI, we were able, for example, to source machine damage that had occurred on one of our frigates. By recovering all the data, we were able to detect the damaged equipment and above all the source of the problem. We change the parts and now we can understand where it came from to prevent it happening again,” explained Admiral Vaujour.
The data hubs have also been used to simulate scenarios such as the entrance to an “Indonesian strait”, to help commanding officers decide on the manoeuvre to adopt, taking into account the possible threats.
“We asked the data hub the question: what is the best tactic for crossing this strait? Using an AI tool, they rehearsed all the possible tactics beforehand, saying for example where a Chinese submarine could be positioned. Hundreds of positions had been recorded and they made the AI tool work out what was the best tactic to adopt based on the results provided. It was very interesting.” Admiral Nicolas Vaujour added.
In addition to this major experiment with onboard data hubs, the French Navy tested the L22 data link in operation for the first time, as already reported by Naval News.
Logistics – the key to deployment
Such a long deployment cannot be carried out without solid logistics points and major refuelling. Although the aircraft carrier is nuclear-powered and therefore not very dependent on its own propulsion, the need for fuel for aircraft, food and ammunition is always present, requiring frequent refuelling, as it does for the escort ships.
For this, the CSG could rely on the French Navy’s new tanker (also known as ‘BRF’), which is a real “gamechanger” for the Chief of Staff who stressed it during his hearing. Its ability to go faster than the previous generation, to carry much more and to reload complex munitions such as Aster missiles directly at sea, to refuel 3 ships at the same time if necessary, makes it an extremely valuable tool.
Clemenceau 25 was also an opportunity to test new ways of refuelling. For example, the ‘Jacques Chevallier’ tanker carried out the first consolidated cargo operation, or CONSOL, with an American commercial tanker “Stena Polaris” which was chartered by the US Military Sealift Command (MSC). This is a way of diversifying supply points, especially when there is no base nearby or when the force is in a hostile area.
Check out part two of our Clemenceau 2025 insights at this link.
