Britain and France to coordinate aircraft carrier deployments

UK and France commit to greater defence cooperation at Paris summit.

The UK and France have agreed to coordinate deployments of aircraft carriers to provide complementary and a more persistent European presence in regions of shared interest.

Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said:

“As our leaders meet in Paris, the British and French Armed Forces are working together in response to Russian aggression in Europe, and to protect our shared values and interests across the globe. Now we will deepen our cooperation be it supporting Ukraine today or meeting the challenges of tomorrow, from security in the Arctic to carrier deployments in the Pacific.

We will also pursue a host of joint endeavours from intelligence sharing to complex weapon development. This reflects the mutual respect and confidence that exists between us, our shared technological ambitions, our unwavering commitment to NATO and our recognition that the security of Europe and the Atlantic is tied to that of the wider world.”

During the summit, the UK and France agreed to coordinate deployments of aircraft carriers to provide complementary and a more persistent European presence in regions of shared interest.

“This will mean routinely providing support for each other’s task groups, cooperating in exercises to prepare our carriers for warfighting, and explore opportunities for the United Kingdom and France to demonstrate the sequencing of more persistent European carrier strike group presence in the Indo-Pacific.

Further integration of the UK and French Armed Forces over the next decade was also discussed, with a vision to enable seamless operations and draw on common intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data.”

The UK and France also agreed to work to ensure interoperability of weapons and platforms across Europe and NATO, including advance landmark projects to develop their future complex weapons systems, such as the Future Cruise and Anti-Ship Weapon (FC/ASW) programme.

An agreement was also reached on a new dialogue on defence industrial strategy, and to cooperate further on European air defence capabilities and directed energy weapons.