The French and United States navies this week carried out bilateral operations in the Philippine Sea aiming to boost their collaborative capabilities and support a "free and open" Indo-Pacific.
The exercises featured the US Navy’s USS Dewey, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, and the French Navy’s FS Bretagne, an Aquitaine-class frigate, the US 7th Fleet said in a statement.
Activities included formation sailing, combined communications, and simulated refueling, underscoring the commitment of both nations to enhance maritime interoperability.
“The US 7th Fleet takes regular steps to advance our interoperability with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, as we did during this week's bilateral operation with our longstanding French Navy allies,” Vice Admiral Fred Kacher, the Fleet's commander, was quoted as saying.
“The work we do together strengthens the combined capabilities of our professional maritime forces and enhances our ability to deter conflict in the region.”
Dispute
The Philippines and China are entangled in a decades-long dispute over territory.
In 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected Chinese claims over vast sea areas, but Beijing did not accept the ruling, and instead ramped up patrols of the waters and reefs in the South China Sea and built artificial islands that it has militarised.
Meanwhile, France has shown increased interest in participating in war games with allies in the Pacific, where it has overseas territories such as the islands and archipelagos of New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna and French Polynesia.
Some 7,000 defence personnel, 15 warships and 38 aircraft are deployed to the region. France's Navy is the largest force in the Pacific Islands.
France joins forces with India, US in China's Pacific backyard
Like Australia and the US, France is concerned about China's growing military presence there.
In a 2021 strategic update, the French defence ministry warned that China had "doubled its defence budget since 2012, making it the second largest in the world, while expanding its nuclear arsenal and showing new ambitions in terms of power projection".
Maritime activities
Before going to the Philippines, the FS Bretagne took part in RIMPAC 2024, the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise that is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii.
And earlier this year, the French Navy already took part in joint maritime activities between Manila, Paris, and Washington in the South China Sea during the Balikatan 2024 exercises, the largest annual drill held between the US and Philippines militaries.
Balitakan was a first for the French Navy. The Floréal-class frigate FS Vendémiaire was the French participant.
France's official line is that its presence has nothing to do with the perceived China threat.
“Vendémiaire’s action will fall within the areas of maritime security and HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief: relief to populations in the event of a natural disaster),” according to a statement by France’s Indo-Pacific Command before that exercise.
The drill lasted three weeks and took place in Palawan and Batanes, close to Taiwan and the South China Sea.
French and US military cooperation took a beating when the US, the UK and Australia launched their AUKUS alliance, resulting in the cancellation of a billion dollar submarine deal that involved the sales of French submarines to Canberra.
Relations however have since recovered.
(with newswires)
