France deploys Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group to Atlantic for ORION 26 war exercise.

The French Navy confirmed on February 5, 2026, that the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its carrier strike group repositioned from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic as part of ORION 26, France’s largest joint and allied high-intensity military exercise.

On February 5, 2026, the French Navy confirmed that the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its carrier strike group moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic to participate in ORION 26, France’s largest joint and allied military exercise. The deployment supports a national-level operational maneuver designed to test coalition leadership, force sustainment, and multi-domain operations under high-intensity conflict conditions.
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During the ORION 26 exercise, the Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group will conduct joint and allied training sequences that include air defense, anti-submarine warfare, surface combat, and precision strike coordination. (Picture source: French Navy)

More precisely, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its carrier strike group had shifted from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic in order to participate in ORION 26, France’s largest joint and allied high-intensity exercise cycle scheduled to conclude on April 30, 2026. The movement followed the group’s departure from the naval base of Toulon on January 27, 2026, and marked the transition from preparatory naval training to full integration within a national-level operational maneuver conducted across French territory, airspace, cyberspace, and surrounding maritime areas. The deployment places the carrier strike group within a broader framework designed to test France’s ability to lead coalition operations, sustain forces over time, and operate under conditions approaching a major conventional conflict in Europe.

ORION 26 is structured around a fictional scenario that is deliberately aligned with contemporary European security realities, while remaining formally detached from any single ongoing conflict. In the scenario, an expansionist European state named Mercure seeks to maintain regional dominance by destabilizing its neighbor, Arnland, and preventing its political and institutional integration into the European Union. Throughout 2025, Mercure is portrayed as having intensified hybrid actions, including information pressure, political coercion, and direct support to armed militias operating on Arnland’s territory, before the situation escalates into open military confrontation. The narrative logic, geography, and methods employed in the scenario closely mirror current patterns observed in Eastern Europe, with Mercure reflecting a state actor relying on conventional forces backed by hybrid tools (Russia, not to mention it by name), and Arnland corresponding to a smaller European state requesting external military support to preserve its sovereignty (Ukraine, not to mention it by name).

At Arnland’s request, France takes the lead of the ORION coalition on January 6, 2026, a political decision that triggers the military phases of ORION 26. The exercise is designed to move progressively from sub-threshold conflict into high-intensity warfare, requiring French and allied forces to manage escalation, deterrence failure, and large-scale combat operations. This progression obliges participants to operate under contested conditions across land, sea, air, cyber, and space domains, while maintaining political control and coalition cohesion. The scenario also integrates civilian and interministerial challenges, reflecting the impact of a major external conflict on national territory, public services, and critical infrastructure.

In terms of scale, ORION 26 involves 24 participating countries and approximately 10,000 personnel, with activities beginning on February 8, 2026, and distributed across multiple regions of France and its maritime approaches. The Atlantic seaboard plays a central role, particularly for naval and amphibious phases linked to reinforcement routes and maritime security. The exercise stresses long-duration operations rather than short tactical events, focusing on command continuity, logistics flows, force regeneration, and the ability to coordinate large formations over several weeks. It also places French headquarters in a position equivalent to leading a NATO-level operation, testing procedures, staffing, and decision-making under sustained pressure.

The exercise is organized into four distinct but interconnected phases. The first phase, O.1, focuses on operational planning, translating political objectives into a coherent joint campaign under French leadership. The second phase, O.2, emphasizes coalition force deployment and entry into a contested theater, including rapid concentration of forces and initial high-intensity engagements. The third phase, O.3, is an interministerial wargame addressing the consequences of the conflict on national territory, including resilience, protection of populations, and continuity of state functions. The fourth phase, O.4, integrates French forces into a NATO command framework, rehearsing alliance-level coordination, rules of engagement, and synchronization between national and allied chains of command.

Concrete force contributions underline the scale of ORION 26. The exercise includes two naval bases, one carrier strike group, two amphibious helicopter carriers, 25 major combat units, and 50 fixed-wing aircraft, alongside an army corps-level headquarters, three combined-arms brigades, and about 2,150 tactical vehicles. Air and air defense components comprise 40 helicopters, roughly 1,200 combat and specialist drones, two MALE drones, and six ground-based air defense systems. Space involvement is represented by 20 space sensors and the linkage of SparteX 2026 with ORION to integrate space command and control with other command structures. Cyber actions are embedded throughout all phases, connecting real cyber incident management to operational effects and to test defensive, offensive, and influence actions in the digital field.

Within this framework, the carrier strike group centered on the Charles de Gaulle forms a key maritime and air component of ORION 26. Prior to the Atlantic phase, the group conducted intensive joint and allied training in the Mediterranean, covering air defense, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, and coordinated precision strikes. Interoperability activities included a replenishment at sea with the Italian Navy destroyer Andrea Doria, an aero-maritime zone control operation involving aircraft from the French Air and Space Force, the French Navy, and the Italian Navy, and a cross-deck evolution with an Italian SH-90 helicopter landing on the carrier. These activities were aimed at validating coalition procedures and preparing the group for sustained operations under a high-intensity exercise framework.

The departure from Toulon on January 27, 2026, involved the aircraft carrier leaving the large roadstead under the command of Captain Thomas Puga, with the maneuver completed within roughly twenty minutes. The French Navy did not publish a full official order of battle, but departing units cited with the deployment include the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the air defense frigate Alsace, the Horizon-class destroyer Chevalier Paul, the Italian destroyer Andrea Doria, and the replenishment ship Jacques Chevallier, with a nuclear-powered attack submarine forming part of the escort. The composition reflects a balanced configuration combining air defense, anti-submarine protection, and logistical sustainment. For ORION 26, the embarked air group includes 20 Rafale Marine fighter aircraft, supporting air control, strike, and escort missions within the exercise scenario.

The Charles de Gaulle, France’s only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, has a full-load displacement of about 42,500 tonnes, a length of 261.5 meters, a beam of 64.4 meters at the flight deck, and a draught of about 9.5 meters at full load. Propulsion is provided by two K15 pressurized-water nuclear reactors driving two shafts, generating about 83,000 hp and allowing a maximum speed of 27 knots. The ship operates a CATOBAR configuration with two 75-meter steam catapults and arresting gear, enabling the launch and recovery of 40 aircraft, including Rafale Marine fighters and E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft. Defensive systems include Aster 15 surface-to-air missiles fired from Sylver launchers, Sadral launchers with Mistral missiles, Narwhal remotely operated 20 mm guns, and electronic warfare systems integrated into the SENIT 8 combat management system. The carrier typically embarks up to 2,000 personnel, and has previously supported combat operations over Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and Syria.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.