The French Mistral-class amphibious assault ship Dixmude and La Fayette-class frigate Surcouf will be in Haifa from July 7-11, 2018. As part of their annual operation campaign known as Jeanne d'Arc. "In addition to amphibious exercises which will be carried out together with regional navies and US Marines, the ships’ port calls will include Jakarta, Bali, Darwin, Saigon and Singapore," Naval Today noted when the mission began in February in Toulon.
The Dixmude was off Lebanon in March where French Ambassador to Lebanon Bernard Foucher hosted a reception and discussed France's role in the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission. On July 7 the ships will be at Haifa port, returning from their trip to southeast Asia. According to the French Embassy in Israel "During their stay in Haifa, several joint activities are planned with Israeli warships, navy and air force. Various activities will also be organized for cadets (lectures, visits, meetings, etc.). Israel military delegations will meet their French counterparts.
The operation has so far included 132 cadets from several countries who took part. According to the embassy statement "the operation has four objectives: retirement in strategic areas of interest, international cooperation, maritime support for diplomacy
And cadets' real-time training. This year, the operation took place in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia." The Royal Navy also participated as well as US Marines. There was also an exercise in Djibouti. This amphibious exercise was perfectly suited for the Dixmude's capabilities.
During the recent mission the Dixmude and Surcouf worked with the HMS Albion which is part of a larger Combined Joint Expeditionary Force which "will enable our navies to come together for operations at short notice anywhere in the world," a statement from the Albion said. Dixmude also took part in the Komodo exercise off Indonesia.
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