The French aircraft carrier FS Charles De Gaulle steams in the Mediterranean Sea, May 2, 2024. (Mercy Crowe/U.S. Navy)
A flotilla of about 10 warships, including the USS Carl Vinson and the French aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle, are set to train together Saturday in the Philippine Sea, according to the U.S. 7th Fleet.
Joining the two carriers for the exercise, dubbed Pacific Steller 2025, are at least eight escort ships and Japan’s JS Kaga, a small-deck flattop called a helicopter carrier, the command announced Thursday in a news release.
“Our routine integration aims to showcase our partnership and demonstrate our ability to work together with our French and Japanese allies,” Capt. Matthew Thomas, the Carl Vinson’s commander, said in the release.
A 7th Fleet spokeswoman, Lt. j.g. Sarah Merrill, confirmed the exercise will take place in the East Philippine Sea and said it’s an opportunity to advance the three navies’ ability to work together and improve maritime security.
“Cooperating with our allies and partners enhances our ability to deter conflict and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific,” she told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday.
The last multicarrier drill in the Indo-Pacific took place in August, with the USS Abraham Lincoln and the Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour training together, a first for the U.S. and Italian navies in the region.
The Carl Vinson strike group includes the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton and the guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett and USS William P. Lawrence.
The nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle, currently engaged in its Clemenceau 25 deployment, is escorted by the destroyer FS Forbin, frigates FS Provence and FS Alsace, fleet oiler FS Jacques Chevallier and a nuclear-powered attack submarine, USNI News reported Jan. 31.
The Kaga supports a complement of helicopters.
In November, the Kaga completed trials for the first of two rounds of modifications that will allow it to carry the fifth-generation F-35B Lightning II, a short-takeoff and vertical-landing stealth fighter.
The training will take place three days after the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold and a U.S. P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft wrapped up an exercise with the Australian, Japanese and Philippine navies on Wednesday near the Philippines.
The drills included the Australian guided-missile destroyer HMAS Hobart and a MH-60R Seahawk helicopter; the Philippine guided-missile frigate BRP Jose Rizal; and the Japanese destroyer JS Akizuki and an SH-60K helicopter, according to a 7th Fleet news release on Thursday.
The operation featured surface maneuvering, line-of-sight communication checks, subject matter expert exchanges and tactics training, Merrill said.
