French aircraft carrier visits PH to boost defense ties

The French Navy’s aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle made its first visit to the Philippines on Friday, making a stop in Subic Bay in Zambales, the province facing the West Philippine Sea, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The aircraft carrier docked in Subic Bay along with two multi-mission destroyers, an air defense destroyer, and the auxiliary oil replenishment ship Jacques Chevallier.

Col. Xerxes Trinidad, chief of the AFP public affairs office, said the French Navy’s Carrier Strike Group also made an “operational break” in Manila.

“The French Navy forces are expected to conduct combined naval and air exercises alongside the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Air Force in the West Philippine Sea,” Trinidad said.

This visit, according to him, “builds on growing defense ties” between the Philippines and France following the French Navy’s first participation in last year’s Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises between Filipino and American troops.

The French embassy in Manila said the aircraft carrier’s arrival in the Philippines was part of the framework of the letter of intent signed by France and the Philippines in December 2023, which aims to boost military cooperation and interactions between the two countries.

“These interactions are clear demonstration of the willingness to work collectively for maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region where the two countries share economic interests and a need to protect their national citizens,” the embassy said. —WITH REPORTS FROM JULIE M. AURELIO AND JACOB LAZARO