French Navy (Marine Nationale) Mistral-class LHD Dixmude and La Fayette-class frigate Aconit set sails on 17 February 2026 for the Indo-Pacific and will transit via the Red Sea as part of the “JEANNE D’ARC 2026” mission. Nearly 800 personnel are taking part in the deployment, including 162 officer cadets.
This annual operational deployment—conducted in areas of strategic interest and overseas territories—marks the culmination of the training programme for French and foreign Naval Academy officer cadets.
The Jeanne d’Arc mission combines training with operational deployment and contributes to preparing tomorrow’s military leaders. For the 2026 edition, the task group will make port calls on three continents, with a deployment extending into the Indo-Pacific region to participate to Balikatan 2026 in the Philippines.
Throughout the voyage, numerous exercises will be conducted with France’s allies and French forces stationed in the area. These activities will demonstrate the naval, amphibious, land and airmobile capabilities of French forces—particularly their ability to conduct complex power- and force-projection operations—while highlighting cooperation with partners. The mission also underscores France’s commitment to freedom of navigation and respect for international maritime law.
For this mission, the amphibious assault ship Dixmude embarks a detachment from Flotilla 34F equipped with a Dauphin helicopter dedicated to maritime surveillance, logistical support and search-and-rescue missions. Flotilla 36F will also deploy its S-100 CAMCOPTER unmanned aerial system.
This year, the embarked tactical group has a predominantly infantry composition drawn from the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade. It includes a 100-strong sub-group from the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment, as well as an air combat sub-group from the 4th Air Combat Brigade, comprising 60 personnel and equipped with two Caïman and two Gazelle helicopters from the 3rd Combat Helicopter Regiment.
Several uncrewed systems are also present aboard the LHD, as seen by our photographer Hervé Dermoune:
As recently revealed by Naval News, Dixmude received a new EO/IR system by TRAKKA Systems:
