France Deploys its Troubled Carrier Charles De Gaulle Near Iranian Waters: Why Tehran Isn't Worried

The French Navy has deployed the nuclear powered aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle to the Middle East as part of its Jaguar Task Force mission, amid rising tensions in the region between the Western Bloc and their allies and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The ship was stationed off the coast of Saudi Arabia, and according to French President Emanuel Macron, the task force was dispatched with the purpose "of reassuring the Saudi Kingdom... Once more our plane carrier will be the centre for combined operational amongst several European countries." Also participating in the deployment would be forces from German, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, Spain and Portugal. France has been a leading critic of the Iranian ballistic missile program, and advocated pressure to bring about the unilateral disarmament of the country in the past. The carrier's position places Iranian territory well within range of the French Navy's Rafale-M medium weight fighters.

France is currently the only European country with a fully operational aircraft carrier outfitted for power projection operations, with the British Queen Elizabeth Class ships having yet to deploy their air wings and their F-35B fighters far from combat ready. The Charles De Gaulle has suffered from a troubled history and several performance issues, and problems with its propulsion systems have made it extremely slow particularly when compared to carriers in American service. At around 40,000 tons, the warship is of comparable weight to an American Wasp Class and Chinese Type 075 Class assault ships - approximately 60% lighter than the U.S. Navy's own nuclear powered carriers the Nimitz Class and Gerald Ford Class, and the smaller ship is considerably less efficient with only a fraction of the capacity for airstrikes. This combined with a lack of comparable sophisticated escorts to the American Arleigh Burke Class destroyers and Ticonderoga Class cruisers makes the French naval task force far less intimidating than those from the United States which are so routinely deployed to the region.  The limited capabilities of the Rafale itself, which has yet to integrate modern air to air missiles comparable to the American AIM-120C and C and lacks stealth capabilities and other next generation features found on American designs, further reduces the De Gaulle's potency. With the Iranian Navy and Air Force having trained and equipped themselves  to a high standard for anti shipping and air defence operations with engagements, with U.S. carrier strike groups in mind, France's troubled carrier will appear far less intimidating.