The UK Royal Navy (RN) Type 45 air-defence destroyer HMS Dragon has integrated into the French Navy’s FS Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group (CSG), as the CSG operates in the Gulf of Aden/Horn of Africa region. Both the CSG and Dragon have deployed to the region to provide pre-positioned capability, should regional security conditions potentially permit international efforts to re-open the Strait of Hormuz and secure freedom of navigation, following the recent US/Israel versus Iran war.
The war erupted in late February and, as it evolved, Dragon deployed to waters off Cyprus, in the Eastern Mediterranean, to provide presence to secure UK national interests there. France deployed the Charles de Gaulle CSG to the Eastern Mediterranean, too.
Events within the war included Iran effectively closing Hormuz to other users by pointing to the theoretical presence of sea mines and actually using missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to attack commercial and naval ships. In response, the US Navy moved to blockade Iranian ports.
Following conflict ceasefire, in early May first the French CSG and then Dragon (a few days later) sailed through Suez into the Red Sea.
At that time, the UK Ministry of Defence said Dragon’s redeployment was part of prudent planning to provide pre-positioned capability to prepare for any potential international efforts to re-open and secure Hormuz, when conditions permitted.
In this latest development, Dragon integrating into the French CSG was announced by the Marine Nationale, in a statement that said the move illustrates both the high level of interoperability that exists between the two navies and their common focus on pre-deploying assets to prepare for any effort to restore freedom of navigation in the Gulf.
Prior to joining up with the CSG, Dragon was escorted through the Bab-al-Mandeb Strait by French aircraft, including an Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft and Mirage 2000 fighters, operating out of France’s base in Djibouti.
Bab-al-Mandeb connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. This corridor has been the scene of significant security risk in recent years, first in 2023-24 with Iran-backed, Yemen-based Houthi rebels targeting naval and commercial ships transiting the region with missiles and uncrewed systems; and second, once the latest Gulf conflict had ceased and the protagonists began debating preconditions for peace, with Iran publicly reminding its opponents and the wider world that it could close Bab-al-Mandeb as well as Hormuz. This persisting risk would explain the aircraft ‘top cover’ present, even for a highly capable ‘air defender’ like Dragon.
Naval News comment
The UK and France have been discussing for some time, including with other coalition partners, plans to provide capability to open and secure the Strait of Hormuz at the right time, with the two countries prepared to take a leading role. Thus, exploiting the flexible nature of naval platforms and the open nature of the high seas, pre-positioning ships from their respective navies to the region in preparation for activities is a pragmatic move.
It is also another illustration of the close working relationship between the two navies and reflects wider allied interoperability across NATO, including in the complex but very much ‘business as usual’ matter of integrated CSG operations. For Dragon, in any escort operations in and around Hormuz,the ‘air defender’ would provide that capability within the CSG and to support UK interests more widely. Integrating into the CSG also enhances training benefit for the ship and further development for the two navies of combined CSG operations.
For the record, the French carrier strike group set sail from Toulon on 27 January to take part in ORION 26, a major exercise off France’s Atlantic coast. It then began a Baltic Sea and North Atlantic deployment. French President Macron retasked the Charles de Gaulle CSG to the Mediterranean on March 3rd as the aircraft carrier had just completed a historic port call in Sweden. The aircraft carrier and her escort transited the Suez canal in early May.
