French Navy’s Encounters with Russian Forces: A Closer Look at Recent Incidents

2023-07-06 20:43:12

Before the war in Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom had many opportunities to denounce the “unprofessional” behavior of Russian combat planes and ships towards their forces… while France was rather discreet on this subject, the “dangerous” interactions having been most often mentioned during the parliamentary hearings of the chiefs of staff concerned.

Thus, in 2018, while he was Chief of Staff of the French Navy [CEMM]Admiral Christophe Prazuck revealed to the deputies that French ships had been overflown at least eight times by Russian fighter planes during the previous months.

This was not really surprising, given the context that prevailed at the time, with in particular the Russian military engagement in Syria and the intervention led by the French forces in the Levant once morest the Islamic State. [EI ou Daesh]as part of the international coalition led by the United States [Inherent Resolve] and under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

Earlier, and in front of the same deputies, General André Lanata, then Chief of Staff of the Air Force, had explained that the coalition planes moved “daily in a pocket handkerchief near the Sukhoï Russian and Syrian MiGs, all of this at the heart of the surface-to-air defense systems of the Russian and Syrian armed forces”. But he did not mention specific incidents [du moins selon le compte-rendu de son audition à huis clos]unlike its American counterparts… And this while the Russian and Inherent Resolve senior management had agreed on so-called “deconfliction” rules in order to avoid misunderstandings.

“While contact is rough with the Americans and the British […], [les Russes] remain very professional vis-à-vis the French sailors. This respect has very practical consequences. In September 2018, the frigate Auvergne was accused of shooting down a Russian plane. Thanks to this respect, this trust and the direct channels of discussion, the truth was able to be restored and France exonerated, ”said MP Michel-Kleisbauer, co-author of a report on defense issues in the Mediterranean in February. 2022.

However, with the war in Ukraine, the “climate” has changed. In July 2022, still during a parliamentary hearing, the current CEMM, Admiral Pierre Vandier, revealed that the Russians now regularly moved “less than 2000 meters” from French ships, with “their active weapon systems, as they regularly let us know by illuminating our buildings with their fire control radars”. But this did not give rise to any official comment from the French authorities…

And, in November 2022, it was NATO that publicly denounced the dangerous overflight of the “Chevalier Paul” air defense frigate by Russian planes in the Baltic Sea… and not Paris.

That said, the French authorities’ approach to the behavior of Russian forces will no doubt change in the future. In any case, this is what the communication from the General Staff of the Armed Forces suggests. [EMA] who, on July 6, denounced the behavior of a Su-35 “Flanker-E” with regard to the Rafale of the Air & Space Force [AAE] engaged in Operation Chammal [nom de la participation française à Inherent Resolve, ndlr].

“On 06/07, two French Rafales on a protection mission on the Iraqi-Syrian border reacted to an unprofessional interaction on the part of a Russian Su-35”, indeed affirmed the EMA, via Twitter.

And to support his point, he released a photograph of the Russian fighter plane in question… Which suggests that he approached [trop] near the two Rafales.

For the moment, the Ministry of the Armed Forces has not made any comment.

#Chammal | On 06/07, 2 Rafale ???????? on a protection mission at the Iraqi-Syrian border reacted to a non-professional interaction by an SU-35 ????????.

The pilots ???????? maneuvered to control the risk of accident before continuing their patrol. pic.twitter.com/jJPvKMutUl

– French army – Military operations (@EtatMajorFR) July 6, 2023

It should be noted that, during the deployment of four Rafales from the 30th Fighter Wing in Lithuania, between December 2022 and May 2023, no incident of this nature was reported… while the French planes provided regarding fifteen take-offs on real alerts [Alpha Scramble] du Combined Air Operations Center [CAOC] to intercept and identify more than 25 Russian aircraft.

In any case, this incident in the Levant occurred barely twenty-four hours following three Russian Su-35s “harassed” three MALE drones [Moyenne Altitude Longue Endurance] American MQ-9 Reapers, which were then engaged in Syria on a mission once morest Daesh.

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