In a high profile naval diplomacy push by France, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle arrived in Malmö, Sweden on February 24.
As earlier reported, the flagship of the French Navy, the carrier Charles de Gaulle, is currently visiting the southern Swedish port of Malmö. The carrier strike group is deployed as part of the mission LA FAYETTE 26, during which it will operate primarily in the North Atlantic. At the same time as the carrier together with Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen are portside in Malmö, other parts of the carrier strike group are to visit the Danish capital of Copenhagen on the other side of the straits.
As the timing of the visit line up with the final marketing push for the Swedish frigate programme, it has been interpreted to be part of the French push to get the FDI-frigate chosen as the Swedish Navy’s next surface combatant. However, while the opportunity will indeed likely be used to promote French naval know-how, the increased French presence in the Nordics have been visible since 2022, meaning the marketing angle is far from the whole story.
According to the press release of the French Navy, the main goal of LA FAYETTE 26 is to contribute to NATO’s defensive and deterrent posture in Europe alongside allies, develop interoperability with partners and allies in the region, to secure Europe’s borders and participate in national and international operations to strengthen maritime security, and finally to promote a free, open, and stable maritime space for the benefit of the French people, France’s interests, and those of its partners.
Naval Diplomacy
Questions have been raised whether a port by the Baltic Sea is the correct spot for a carrier, considering the range of its aircraft allows it to operate further away from potential hostile shores while still being able to deliver multirole air-support through its airwing.
The answer to why the Charles de Gaulle is in Malmö is however ‘naval diplomacy’.
The question of why a carrier is in a confined port fail to recognise the wide mission set of navies. Warfighting it is often in the spotlight as it is in many ways their defining feature. But naval vessels perform a multitude of tasks in both peace and wartime, some of which have little to no commonality with how the force would fight an armed conflict. Naval diplomacy, while possible to perform while engaged in or exercising for war, is one that often looks very different from those activities. That, however, does not detract from the value of it, nor does it diminish the ability of participating vessels to take part in high-end fighting – on the contrary, in many cases capable vessels make the best diplomats, such as is the case with the Charles de Gaulle. The value of showing that France is willing to send its most capable surface vessel – and the only surface vessel of the navy with a role in nuclear deterrence thanks to the ASMP-family of nuclear-tipped cruise missiles carried by the Rafale M of the carrier – should not be underestimated.
The visit to Malmö is a clear expression of intent by France. France prioritises the region, which the Élysée now underline by sending one of their most valued assets there to show the flag. And to show the flag effectively require a port call, as that is when the general public gets to see the ship, and where it is possible to grab headlines in both traditional and social media.
