St. Petersburg Times – Arrival of French Ship Fuels Debate

Hundreds of St. Petersburg residents, many of them navy officers and shipbuilders, lined up in the fog on Wednesday to visit the French warship The Mistral, which arrived in the city on Monday and which the Russian military hopes to buy.

Associated Press – French ship Russia wants to buy in St Petersburg

A French amphibious assault ship like the one Russia hopes to buy arrived Monday in St. Petersburg, fueling concern in Georgia and other ex-Soviet nations that Russia is upgrading its navy to intimidate its neighbors.

Associated Press – Somali pirates seized after firing on French ship

European Union naval forces captured seven Somali pirates after they tried to take over a French fishing vessel, which repulsed the attack with gunfire.

BBC – Pirates hit navy ship ‘in error’

A group of Somali pirates has been captured after attacking a French navy ship by mistake, apparently thinking it was a harmless cargo vessel.

Associated Press – French navy detects Comoros crash black boxes

A French navy vessel has detected the black boxes of a Yemenia Airways plane that crashed into the Indian Ocean near the Comoros Islands.

Associated Press – Ships ending search for Air France black boxes

Two ships using U.S. listening devices to search for the black boxes of Air France Flight 447 were ending their hunt Friday, an American commander said. A French nuclear submarine, however, will continue to look.

Associated Press – Officials deny that Air France black box signals have been received

French military ships searching for the black boxes of Flight 447 have detected sounds in the Atlantic Ocean but they are not from the Air France plane’s flight recorders, French officials said Tuesday.

Washington Post – Brazil Recovers Debris From Missing Aircraft

Brazil’s defense minister confirmed Tuesday that a swath of debris found floating in the Atlantic Ocean contains remnants of an Air France jetliner, which evidently went down with the loss of all 228 passengers and crew on board. Involved in the search are C-130’s from the Brazilian Air Force and French Navy Breguet-Atlantics.

Here are photos aboard the Breguet-Atlantics

Here is more about the aircraft in French at Le Point – LE BREGUET ATLANTIQUE 2 AU LARGE DU BRÉSIL – À la recherche de l’épave de l’AF 447 and here is the same page translated into English.

Wall Street Journal – France to Open Naval Base in Abu Dhabi

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday his nation’s first military base in the Gulf is an important step in international cooperation to fight piracy and safeguard crucial oil routes.

Daily Telegraph – Asbestos-laden warship to set sail for Britain

A French warship deemed too toxic to be broken up in India is to set sail for Britain to be dismantled.

Defense Technology International – France’s Newest Ballistic Missile-Carrying Sub Starts Sea-Trials

The French Navy announced today that its new Triomphant class ballistic missile-carrying submarine, Le Terrible, had its first sea outing on Monday (Jan.26) off the coast of Cherbourg in northern France.

Defense Technology International – French Navy Deploys Anti-Smuggling Surveillance Frigate Off Gaza Coast

A French frigate carrying a helicopter was on its way Friday to international waters off the coast of Gaza to participate in a mission against arms trafficking in the Palestinian territory.

Defense Technology International – Surprise Present for the French Navy

Many in the French navy, disappointed that president Nicolas Sarkozy postponed a decision early this summer on whether or not to procure a second aircraft carrier, got a surprise Christmas present last week when Defense Minister Hervé Morin announced he was ordering a third Mistral-class BPC.

Defense Technology International – Charles de Gaulle Overhaul Completed

Associated Press – Somali pirates hijack 1 ship, free another

Somali pirates seized control of a chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Friday and a French naval helicopter, too late to prevent the hijacking, picked up three security guards who jumped into the sea.

Defense Technology International – Captain Nemo, Your Ride Is Here

Stealth aircraft have been compared to submarines, and there are similarities between the two. Both depend on a smooth outside mould line for survival and carry their weapons internally, restricted by the ability to cut holes in the skin…

BBC – France ‘captures Somali pirates’

Nine suspected Somali pirates have been captured by the French navy and handed over to regional officials in northern Somalia.

Defense Technology International – Another significant step for seabased unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) took place this weekend on the Mediterranean when a helicopter UAV was automatically landed on a French Navy frigate, the Montcalm.

Defense Technology International – Some details about France’s new naval base at the port of Fujaira on the eastern seaboard of the UAE, which was opened very discreetly recently by the French navy.
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Defense Technology International – The Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier came out of its dry dock in the Mediterraean port of Toulon on a beautiful August 22 dawn and has another 100 days of maintenance and upgrade at quayside before it can go back to sea.
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