Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dauntless spent seven days working with the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle as it prepared for France’s largest military exercise in decades.
The Type 45 – 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 centered 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 her escorts to protect the English Channel from hostile forces.
Portsmouth-based Dauntless successfully ‘defeated’ the hostile force (played by other NATO warships) attempting to gain control of the French and British coastlines.
LS(AWT) Tom Foley, operations room supervisor on Dauntless, said: “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.”
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 Marine Nationale’s newest supply ships, the AFS Jacques Stosskopf, which also supplied the Dutch ship HMNLS De Ruyter at the same time.
The Wildcat provided key 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.
Flight Commander Lieutenant Sam Burton of 815 NAS said: “This was an excellent opportunity for the squadron to refine warfighting capabilities with multiple NATO partners in the English Channel and underlines the UK’s ongoing commitment to the Alliance and to maintaining credible, combat‑ready force able to deter and respond to aggression.”
Dauntless’ Principal Warfare Officer Lieutenant Commander Joshua Tyrie added: “Building on the experience gained during Op Highmast, where HMS Dauntless was the primary air defender for HMS Prince of Wales, we had the opportunity to bring this expertise to support the Marine Nationale’s Op Orion, integrating with the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier and her escorts to deliver world-class training, whilst developing tactics and proving our ability to integrate with our NATO partners.”