The French Navy (Marine Nationale) Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is about to take to the sea for a six-week-long deployment named “Akila”.

French carrier strike group during mission CLEMENCEAU 21. French Navy picture.

Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle and her escort are to set course mainly for the Eastern Mediterranean and will be operating under NATO command for the first time.

Starting April 22nd, approximately 3,000 sailors, soldiers, and airmen from France, the United States, Spain, Greece, Italy, and Portugal will deploy for Akila.

Rear Admiral Jacques Mallard, commander of the French Carrier Strike Group CSG announced this week that for the first time, “the CSG will be directly placed under NATO command.”

The operation will be led from Oeiras, Portugal, home to the Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO), an operational command that provides maritime battle staff to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).

For Akila, the CSG consists of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, one multi-mission frigate (FREMM), one air defense destroyer (FDA), one nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN), and the first of four force replenishment vessels (known as BRF) built for the French Navy, the Jacques Chevallier.

The Charles de Gaulle’s air wing comprises 18 Rafale fighter jets—two-thirds of the ship’s capability—along with 2 E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft and 2 Dauphin SAR helicopters.

Additionally, they will be joined by one Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft.

Names and pennant numbers of the French combatant vessels will remain hidden, as part of a deception experimentation launched in 20220.

This initiative, aimed at the “dilution of the identity of the units…which leads to a certain confusion among our competitors,” was presented by the rear admiral as “fairly effective.”

He noted that this strategy “sowed doubt on several occasions when our boats encountered other boats who did not know exactly how to call them.”

Allies are expected to join with vessels, submarines, and aircraft similar to the French ones, but the exact number and types weren’t detailed, as “this communication is in their hands.”Picture French MoD
The CSG will undergo training “in all fields and all environments” centred around a number of strategic objectives, namely “strengthening NATO’s defensive and dissuasive posture, contributing to collective security, and supporting NATO operations that promote regional stability,” Rear Admiral Mallard stated.

He further added that the CSG “may interact with the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2),” a small multinational fleet providing NATO with immediate operational response capability in the Mediterranean area.

For the French part of Akila, another major objective will be to better “understand and know the NATO chain of command.

This is a first, we have fairly recent experience on integration into this chain of command. (…) This will make it possible to prepare for tomorrow’s operations within NATO.“

To Romania and beyond?

As part of Akila, the CSG will participate in the French-Italian one-week-long exercise Mare Aperto 24, organized this time by France and which will include in its last phase a “Polaris” effort, a large combined exercise held for the first time in 2021.

“Throughout our deployment, we will also contribute to other national activities in the Mediterranean by providing all the effects that can be produced with our platforms,” Rear Admiral Mallard explained.

Moving to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the CSG will interact with French Air Force aircraft based in Poland and with French Land Forces operating in Romania under the scope of the Mission Aigle.

Sailors are informed of their departure dates, but the return dates are subject to change, which is completely normal as the CSG can adapt to the context.

“We are considering all areas in which we could produce useful effects for French policy and regional stability.

The Indo-Pacific is one of the many theaters in which the CSG could have effects. We are exploring various possibilities, including distant deployments, but at the moment, nothing concrete has been decided,” Rear Admiral Mallard stated.

When asked about the possibility of extending the CSG mission to include the Strait of Hormuz and potentially assisting in the protection of merchant ships against Houthi drones and ballistic missiles, Rear Admiral Mallard confirmed that “the deployment of the CSG in the Red Sea is currently not planned at this stage, but this is obviously one of the options that we are studying.” 

He emphasized that “the job of a soldier is to prepare, to plan, to think.“