The French navy is shifting its training from focusing on policing operations to preparing for war against enemies who want to “destroy us,” said Rear Admiral Jacques Mallard, commander of the French aircraft carrier strike group.
When Mr. Mallard joined the French armed forces in the 1990s, the Navy’s primary mission was to stop drug traffickers and combat illegal fishing. Training included practicing launching Zodiac inflatable boats and catching criminals. Now, the training focuses on combat.
“A naval battle is becoming increasingly likely,” Mallard said in an exclusive interview with Politico published on April 10.
“We are moving from a world where we were pretty free to do as we please, to a world where we feel threatened more often… Now we train for other missions, especially high-intensity warfare.”
French Navy flagship Charles de Gaulle, February 1, 2022. Photo: USNI
France is the only EU country to operate a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier – the Charles de Gaulle, which carries nuclear weapons. It is the flagship of a larger carrier strike group that includes nuclear submarines, destroyers and Rafale fighter jets.
A French aircraft carrier strike group is expected to begin a mission in the Mediterranean Sea in the coming days.
As the Russia-Ukraine conflict spills over into the Black Sea, and Houthi rebels continue to attack commercial vessels in the Red Sea, Western navies must adapt to a new environment of “increasingly emboldened competitors,” Mallard said.
“That's when we need to be a little more aggressive, or at least we have to be prepared to be,” the Rear Admiral added.
The sailors practice fighting against “someone who wants to destroy us. Not someone who wants to smuggle, not someone who wants to steal fish, not someone who wants to follow us or observe us, but someone who wants to destroy us,” said Mallard.
In 2021, the French Navy began a new Polaris exercise that simulates a naval battle. The idea is to put crews and ships in free-flowing combat situations that “free the rules to develop the imagination of sailors and combatants.”
“It’s a little riskier, but it’s useful in getting rid of tactical thinking,” Mallard said. The French Navy will soon conduct a Polaris-style exercise with the Italian fleet .
Minh Duc (According to Politico EU)
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