French Carrier Charles de Gaulle Kicks Off La Perouse Exercise in South East Asia

Dzirhan Mahadzir – January 21, 2025 5:07 PM

French aircraft carrier, FS Charles De Gaulle (R91) passes alongside the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) in the Mediterranean Sea, May 2, 2024. US Navy Photo

The French Carrier Strike Group is spearheading the French Navy-led multinational biennial exercise La Perouse 25 that began on Thursday across three critical maritime passages in South East Asia.

The 2025 exercise also marks the first time that South East Asian nations are participating in the exercise, albeit in separate national segments for each country. The French CSG is leading maritime security and cooperation drills with the Indian Navy, Indonesian Navy, Republic of Singapore Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Malaysian Navy, Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy in the Malacca, Sunda and Lombok straits.

The French CSG, consisting of carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R91), destroyer FS Forbin (D620), frigates FS Provence (D652) and FS Alsace (D656), fleet oiler FS Jacques Chevallier (A725) and a nuclear-powered attack submarine, is conducting a deployment to the Indo-Pacific known as Clemenceau 25, which began in the last week of November 2024. 

The CSG previously docked in Goa and Kochi, India, from Jan. 3-9 and, subsequently, Indian Navy destroyer INS Mormugao (D67) conducted tactical maneuver and helicopter cross-deck drills with Forbin and a replenishment-at-sea drill with Jacques Chevallier in the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, embarked Rafale fighter aircraft on Charles De Gaulle carried out a joint anti-aircraft drill with Indian Air Force Sukhoi and Jaguar fighter aircraft, according to a French Embassy release. Forbin then pulled into Penang Island, Malaysia, on Jan. 12 for a port visit, departing on Thursday to begin the Malacca Strait phase of La Perouse.

La Perouse 25 is divided into three locations – the Malacca Strait, the Sunda Strait and the Lombok Strait. The objective of the exercise is to provide maritime safety in the three critical straits through the French Navy operating with regional and international partners and sharing information and coordinating actions against multiple threats by using the Indo-Pacific Information Sharing platform (IORIS).

“The strengthening of maritime safety will be at the heart of this exercise, with the development of interoperability between partner navies and the ability to act collectively in the event of a maritime crisis,” read a France Pacific Command (ALPACI) release on the exercise.

The release stated that the exercise participants will train with searches and interventions on vessels suspected of illicit activities, with some of the ships in the exercise playing the role of the suspected ships. 

The Malacca Strait phase ran from Thursday to Sunday, with Forbin drilling first with RMN corvette KD Lekir (FSG26), training ship KD Gagah Samudera (271), an RMN fast combat boat and two Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) F/A-18D Hornet fighters in the Malacca Strait, according to an RMN release. Among the drills carried out were simulated local air-defense exercise, air-defense exercise, surface firing exercise, advance interdiction and boarding exercise and a photo exercise.

Forbin then conducted drills with RSN littoral mission vessel RSS Independence (15) in the Singapore Strait, which joins the Malacca Strait’s southern exit. Jacques Chevalier also pulled into Singapore on Thursday for a logistical stop, according to a post by the French CSG on its official X account.

The Sunda Strait phase ran from Thursday to Monday. A French Embassy release stated that Indonesia is providing base support for two French Navy Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) participating in La Perouse. A French Air Force A400M transport providing logistical support for Altantique 2s are staging out of Kertajati International Airport, West Java, for the exercise.

The largest part of the exercise, the Lombok Strait phase, taking place from Tuesday to Friday, has the French CSG drilling with an Indian Navy destroyer INS Mumbai (D62), destroyer HMAS Hobart (DDG39), RCN frigate HMCS Ottawa (FFH341), RN offshore patrol vessel HMS Spey (P234) and U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship USS Savannah (LCS-28), with the ships’ commanding officers gathering on carrier Charles De Gaulle on Saturday for a pre-exercise meeting.

Despite it being the first time Southeast Asian nations have participated in La Perouse, all three countries – Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore – have limited their participation to a direct bilateral phase close to their own territory. In addition, the French CSG units taking part in the exercise are mirroring the Malacca Straits Patrol initiative, in which Indonesia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand conduct sea and air patrols to provide security in the Malacca Straits, but with each country conducting separate patrols in their own waters and airspace rather than a joint patrol. It is presumed that the national sovereignty aspects over the critical waterways for each nation have resulted in the three countries limiting their participation. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) participated in the previous La Perouse exercise in 2023 but is not participating this year. This is likely because of the JMSDF not having a naval unit currently deployed or transiting the region and later drilling with the French CSG in the upcoming multinational Pacific Steller exercise in the Philippine Sea.

Following La Perouse, the French CSG is expected to operate in the South China Sea before carrying out Exercise Pacific Steller in the Philippine Sea with U.S., Australian, Canadian and Japanese forces. It is likely the French CSG will conduct dual carrier operations with the Carl Vinson CSG, currently operating in the South China Sea and the only U.S. Navy CSG deployed at sea in the Western Pacific, at some point during the French CSG’s deployment.

RAN destroyer Hobart is on a six-week regional presence deployment to Southeast Asia that is expected to conclude by late February according to an Australian Defence Department release.

Ottawa is deployed under the Canadian Armed Forces’ Operation Horizon forward-presence mission in the Indo-Pacific, having left Canada on Oct. 16, 2024. From Jan. 8-11, Ottawa and U.S. Navy destroyer USS Higgins (DDG-76) conducted bilateral operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific in the South China Sea, stated a Thursday release from U.S. 7th Fleet.

“Exercise Noble Wolverine was, for our team, another successful integration between two highly trained and capable navies. The anti-submarine warfare, communications exercises and flying operations were seamless as usual, and occurred in the international waters of an area of the world where undisrupted movement of maritime trade is critical to the region and greater global community,” said Cmdr. Adriano Lozer, commanding officer of Ottawa, in the release.

The release stated that during the operations, Higgins and Ottawa conducted maritime communications training and dynamic coordinated maneuvering.

“The U.S. Navy regularly operates alongside our allies in the Indo-Pacific region as a demonstration of our shared commitment to the rules-based international order. Bilateral operations such as this one provide valuable opportunities to train, exercise and develop tactical interoperability across allied navies in the Indo-Pacific,” read the release.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/f2u4E0y
via IFTTT