The French Navy’s aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle made a visit to Malaysia off the waters of Kuantan.
The French Carrier Strike Group (CSG) in the Indo-Pacific named CLEMENCEAU 25 was presented to the Malaysian and French authorities, as well as the capabilities of the Aircraft Carrier and her Air Wing.
Malaysian Minister of Defence YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, was welcomed aboard the Aircraft Carrier by H. E. Axel Cruau, Ambassador of France to Malaysia; Rear Admiral Jacques Mallard, Commander of the French Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and Captain Georges-Antoine Florentin, commander of the Ship, while combined air training was taking place.
The Minister was accompanied by senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Malaysian Armed Forces, including: General Datuk Mohd Nizam Jaafar, Chief of Defence Forces; Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali, Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence; Admiral Datuk Zulhelmy Ithnain, Chief of the Royal Malaysian Navy; Lt. Gen. Datuk Seri Muhamad Norazlan Aris, Deputy Chief of the Royal Malaysian Air Force, Lt. Gen. Dato’ Zahani Zainal, Commander of the Malaysian Joint Force Command; Yani Daud, Deputy Secretary General-Policy.
On March 2, off the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia (Kuantan), four French Navy ‘Rafale’ of the CSG and six fighter jets of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (two Su-30s, two F/A-18s, and two Hawks) carried out an air combat exercise.
This type of exercise increases interoperability and strengthens military cooperation mechanisms and processes. This high-level training, and more generally, the interactions performed with partners in the region, first and foremost with Malaysia, illustrate France’s will to regularly deploy military assets from France’s mainland (on top of those permanently positioned and employed in French overseas territories) in the Indo-Pacific, to enforce international law, defend sovereignty, and protect free and open access to common spaces.
Malaysia and France are long-standing defence partners, and France highly values its efence cooperation with Malaysia, a cooperation which is nourished by high-level meetings. One distinguished example: the French Minister of the Armed Forces’ visit to Malaysia in December 2023. Our military cooperation is also dense, with PEGASE Air deployments, Air Special Forces exercises and regular ports of call or passing exercises between the Royal Malaysian Navy and the French Navy. Finally, and importantly: our defence industry cooperation is reaching high-end levels: Malaysian and French Armed Forces have acquired a wide range of military equipment from French companies.
The ‘Charles de Gaulle’ is deployed in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, as part of the CLEMENCEAU 25 mission, within the French Carrier Strike Group (CSG), composed of the Aircraft Carrier, its embarked Air Wing and its escort vessels (frigates, submarines and supply vessel), and has been operating in the Indo-Pacific region since January.
During this time, it has carried out numerous activities with partner countries in the region, particularly with Malaysia in mid-January 2025, during the multilateral exercise LA PEROUSE 25 – focused on maritime security and conducted in the Straits of Malacca, Sunda and Lombok. KD Lekir (patrol boat), its embarked helicopter, and KD Gagah Samudera (Corvette) of the Royal Malaysian Navy carried out joint manoeuvres with the Air Defence Destroyer Forbin from January 16 to 18.
These units have had the opportunity to carry out joint training such as militarized intervention on a vessel suspected of illicit activities (visit exercise – VISITEX), to share views on various naval strategies, and thus increase our capacity to work together in the busiest strait in the world.
The CSG then sailed into the Pacific Ocean, where it conducted the PACIFIC STELLER exercise with the United States and Japan, before stopping in the Philippines.
Source Embassy of France in Malaysia
