PARIS — France is deploying the carrier strike group centered on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier into the Red Sea and towards the Gulf of Aden, positioning the force for a possible mission to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the Armed Forces Ministry said on Wednesday.
The French nuclear aircraft carrier and its escorts will transit the Suez Canal on Wednesday on its way to the southern Red Sea, the ministry said, following a nearly two-month deployment in the eastern Mediterranean. France emphasized that the movement of its only aircraft carrier is separate from the military operations initiated in the region.
France and the United Kingdom are leading a group of more than 40 countries that is drawing up plans to help restore navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked due to the hostilities between the United States and Iran. French President Emmanuel Macron has said any multinational initiative to secure Hormuz would only happen once the hottest phase of the conflict subsides.
“Faced with the evolving international context in the Strait of Hormuz, the carrier strike group is now heading toward the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,” the French Joint Staff said in a post on X. The pre-positioning is “aimed at reassuring and strengthening regional security” and is a “resolutely defensive initiative, fully in line with international law,” the joint staff said.
European countries have so far sought to keep their distance from the American-Israeli attacks on Iran, rejecting calls by President Donald Trump to support the U.S. in securing the Strait of Hormuz. Trump responded by calling European allies “cowards,” before saying the U.S. doesn’t actually need help and downplaying the role of allies.
Trump said Sunday the U.S. would start Project Freedom to ensure safe passage for commercial shipping through the strait, before saying Tuesday the military operation had been temporarily halted.
The French aircraft carrier is relocating to reduce the delay implementing the multinational Hormuz initiative as soon as circumstances permit, according to the ministry in Paris. France and the U.K. have said the international mission would be strictly defensive and operate in consultation with relevant countries.
The deployment will allow the carrier group to assess the regional operational environment before the initiative kicks off, integrate contributions from partner countries, as well as help reassure commercial shippers, the ministry said.
The Charles de Gaulle was deployed in the Mediterranean with an air wing of 20 Rafale jets and two E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft as well as three helicopters. France is the only country besides the United States to operate a nuclear aircraft carrier with catapult launch systems, allowing the French Navy to operate fixed-wing airborne early warning as well as enabling heavier fighter payloads.
The Netherlands said the air-defense frigate Evertsen, which was part of the carrier group, has left the deployment and is steaming back to its home port of Den Helder.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
