France has two minehunters and autonomous systems ready for possible deployment to the Middle East as commercial vessels continue to face attacks around the Strait of Hormuz, Rear Admiral Remi Thomas said. Seven attacks on commercial vessels took place in the past week, despite commercial traffic returning in recent months.
French naval readiness
French sea drones are already aboard the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary Lyme Bay, converted into a mother ship for unmanned minehunting systems. Thomas said French mine-countermeasure vessels and autonomous systems are “ready to go now” for operations in the region.
“We have two minehunters ready to not only be deployed but ready to operate in the Middle East, and we have also drones embarked on board Lyme Bay,” said Thomas, the French navy’s chief of staff for plans and programmes. He spoke ahead of the Euronaval exhibition in Paris next month, as the Iran war showed few signs of ending.
France has positioned frigates in the Middle East. Thomas said the country was prepared to maintain a permanent naval presence after the US and Iran reach a workable peace agreement. The base article reports no such agreement; it describes France as ready for a possible deployment and a continuing presence afterward.
Iran is said to have laid dozens of mines during the conflict. Missiles, drones and fast-boat attacks still threaten merchant shipping, according to the report. Oil tankers heavily use the Strait of Hormuz, while the planned mine-clearing fleet is also expected to operate in the Arabian Sea off Oman. The force could help clear mines in the Red Sea, where the Houthis are said to have the potential to lay them.
A proposed multinational mission
France and Britain have formed a “coalition of the willing” to build a multinational mission supporting freedom of navigation and mine clearance. In May, 38 countries gave political backing to the proposed operation. At least 10 European Nato countries are expected to contribute, including Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Those countries have traditional minesweeping ships, which they would deploy when the waters offer a “permissive environment.” The proposed mission hasn’t begun operating, according to the report.
In the coming days, the French navy is expected to announce a tender to charter two vessels as mother ships for its growing fleet of surface and submarine drones. Brig Gen Francois Watteau, who leads international naval projects at the defence procurement agency, said France would order 12 additional unmanned surface vessels to support mine-clearing operations.
“What we are currently facing is a need in very quick time for a solution for mine warfare,” Watteau said. He described the system, developed with Britain, as a mine-countermeasure “toolbox” similar to the one aboard Lyme Bay. It will operate for up to 10 years, with deployments to the Middle East.
Ships and mine-clearing systems
Lyme Bay has sailed to the Middle East with more than 270 sailors, including more than 100 Royal Navy mine-warfare and explosive-ordnance specialists. HMS Dragon, a Type-45 destroyer, is in the Indian Ocean to assist with air defences and reassure commercial traffic when the Strait of Hormuz fully reopens.
The Anglo-French Maritime Mine Counter Measures programme uses unmanned surface vessels to tow high-resolution sonar systems in search of mines. Crews then deploy remotely operated vehicles to identify and destroy them.
A Reuters headline said oil and fuel supply buffers are thinning as the Middle East conflict continues. The Reuters URL couldn’t be fetched, and the report provided no further details on those supply buffers.