For this exceptional document, signed François-Julien Piednoir, Laura Lequertier and Nicolas Berthelot, the magazine “1:15 p.m. on Saturday” (Twitter, #1:15 p.m.) boarded the Charles de Gaulle, the French Navy’s nuclear aircraft carrier which has just been repositioned due to the war in Ukraine. It is accompanied by three frigates, a tanker and an attack submarine.
This giant of the seas has been patrolling between eastern Sicily and the eastern Mediterranean since the beginning of March 2022. Its mission is to make an act of presence for the benefit of NATO, to show its forces against the Russian navy which has deployed a hundred buildings between the Bosphorus and Russian ports in Syria, as well as reassuring European countries.
Up to 600 tons of ammunition
The Embedded Air Group (GAE) of the Clarles-de-Gaulle can count up to 40 aircraft, according to the missions assigned to it. Several types of helicopters and fighters are on board the first and only nuclear-powered surface combat vessel built in Western Europe, which carries up to 600 tons of ammunition.
Rafale Marine take off every day from the flagship of the French Navy to monitor the sky above the Black Sea. So, what climate reigns among the crew of thousands of women and men who serve on board? How is this mission unique? And how to avoid any risk of escalation?
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