Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dauntless spent seven days working with the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle.
The Type 45 destroyer, along with a Wildcat helicopter from 815 NAS, took part in Operation Orion, working with French, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Moroccan warships conducting intense anti-air warfare, surface warfare, and replenishment exercises.
The operation, which involved 12,500 personnel, 25 ships and 140 aircraft, is a key phase within the wider French Carrier Strike Group Operation Lafayette 2026 deployment. The French carrier has an airwing centred on Rafale M fighters, alongside Hawkeyes and helicopters.
Orion concluded with a 48-hour ‘war at sea’ exercise where Dauntless worked with the French carrier and its escorts to protect the English Channel from hostile forces, according to the officials. HMS Dauntless successfully ‘defeated’ the hostile force (played by other NATO warships) attempting to gain control of the French and British coastlines.
“It’s been an interesting experience working with the Charles de Gaulle task group. The team and I particularly enjoyed the war at sea exercise as it allowed us to be adaptive and tactical in how we were going to find and defeat the enemy. It being more free-play made it different from most exercises I’ve done before,” LS(AWT) Tom Foley , operations room supervisor on Dauntless, said.
HMS Dauntless, which took part in the UK Carrier Strike Group 2025 deployment led by HMS Prince of Wales, was replenished at sea by one of the French Navy’s newest supply ships, the AFS Jacques Stosskopf, which also supplied the Dutch ship HMNLS De Ruyter at the same time.
The Wildcat provided maritime awareness and targeting information, helping to locate and track surface ‘threats’ as part of wider NATO serials. It also provided valuable training for aircrews in supporting the use of Sea Venom and Martlet anti-ship missiles, according to the Royal Navy.