On November 7, French frigate Vendemiaire and the New Zealand supply ship Aotearoa met in the East China Sea for a joint training sequence.
The frigate performed three refueling demonstrations on the New Zealand vessel, including crossing the distance line, before conducting a cross-docking. The embarked Dauphin helicopter from the detachment performed a winch-launching and touch-and-go sequence on the Aotearoa, while the New Zealand helicopter came aboard the frigate.
This interaction at sea concludes a cycle of intensive training with our main Pacific partners (Japan, South Korea, New Zealand). These cooperative exercises also demonstrate interoperability of the French Navy with its regional partners and its capacity to conduct joint operations and training, as proven during the major exercise ANNUALEX 2025, organized jointly with the US and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in October.