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French Navy Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle to be Deployed Against ISIS in October

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Naval Forces News - France
 
 
 
French Navy Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle to be Deployed Against ISIS in October
 
Update: We initially reported that the Charles de Gaulle would deploy in October, according to French Defense minister, but President Hollande announced on 22/07/2016 that the aircraft carrier would deploy in September.

The French Navy (Marine Nationale) aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R 91) will be deployed again to conduct strikes against the Islamic State (ISIS also called Daech) in October. French President Francois Hollande gave a "Fall" time frame, the Defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian later said the deployment would take place in October. This will be the third time in two years that the flagship of the French Navy is deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of operation "Chammal".
     
The French Navy (Marine Nationale) aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R 91) will be deployed again to conduct strikes against the Islamic State (ISIS also called Daech) in October. French President Francois Hollande gave a "fall" time frame, the Defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian later said the deployment would take place in October. This will be the third time in two years that the flagship of the French Navy is deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of operation "Chammal". The French Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. Picture: ©Marine Nationale
     
This will mark the last deployment of the aircraft carrier before a major mid-life refit set to start in February 2017. For 18 months the Charles de Gaulle won't be available.

This will also mark the first deployment with a full Rafale M fighter air-wing, since the venerable Super Etendard Modernisé has just been retired (you can see our coverage of the event at this link).

During its last deployment, the Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group conducted 271 combat sorties, including 259 precision strikes against ISIS. During a recent visit to France, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral John Richardson awarded the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier the prestigious Meritorious Unit Commendation for its contribution to the recent operations against ISIS.

From December 7, 2015 to March 3, 2016, the Charles de Gaulle served as the command element for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command’s Task Force 50 (TF 50). It was the first time this function was entrusted to a non-US admiral and non-US unit.

It has to be noted that this third deployment as part of operation "Chammal" is not a consequence of the terror attack in Nice which took place on July 14th (for which Daech claimed to be the perpetrator). The deployment was long planned and was announced by President Hollande before the tragic event took place.