The French Navy anonymizes some of its ships, not Belgium
(Belga) The French Navy has carried out an experiment aimed at “anonymizing” its fleet in order to make its surface vessels more difficult to identify by an adversary which began with its multi-mission frigates and extended to its three amphibious helicopter carriers , the specialized site Mer&Marine reported on Wednesday.
After starting with the multi-mission frigates (FREMM) at the end of 2022, starting with those dubbed D656 Alsace and D652 Provence, it is the turn of the amphibious helicopter carriers (PHA) to see their hull markings ( name of the building and hull number) disappear “as part of the reinforcement of French capacities in the field of informational warfare”. Mer&Marine has observed in Toulon (south of France), where the three buildings of this type are based – formerly the projection and command building (BPC) – that this “anonymization” has in the meantime extended to the three PHAs of the National Navy – the L9013 Mistral, L9014 Tonnerre and L9015 Dixmuide (one of the few French military ships to bear the name of a foreign city). Last November, the naval staff assured that vessels without markings comply with international law and pose “no risk to the safety of navigation”. Questioned by the Belga agency, the Belgian Ministry of Defense indicated that no similar project existed for the Navy fleet. (Belgian)