The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group will carry out the week-long French-hosted exercise Pacific Steller with the French CSG and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer carrier JS Kaga (DDH-184) in the Philippine Sea from Monday until Feb. 18, according to U.S. 7th Fleet and JMSDF releases on Thursday.
Exercise Pacific Steller 2025 is a multi-large-deck event (MLDE) designed to advance coordination and cooperation among French, Japanese and U.S. maritime forces, according to 7th Fleet’s release.
“While France is a resident nation of the Indo-Pacific, it has not deployed its CSG to this part of the world for a long time,” said Rear Adm. Jacques Mallard, commander, French CSG in the release. “There is no doubt that PACIFIC STELLER will ramp up to a new level of interoperability for our three navies and represents a challenge that we are more than eager to take up alongside Japanese and U.S. partners.”
The most recent large deck event in the Indo-Pacific occurred in August 2024 between aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH550).
A release on Thursday said that the JMSDF would participate in the drills with Kaga, destroyer JS Akizuki (DD-115) and a P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPA). The full complement of the Carl Vinson CSG consisting of carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) with embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, cruiser USS Princeton (CG-59) and destroyers USS Sterett (DDG-104) and USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110) will take part in the exercise along with a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon. Save for a nuclear-powered attack submarine deployed with the CSG, the entire French CSG comprising of carrier FS Charles De Gaulle (R91), destroyer FS Forbin (D620), frigates FS Provence (D652) and FS Alsace (D656) and fleet oiler FS Jacques Chevallier (A725) will take part in the drills along with two French Navy Atlantique 2 MPAs that have been deployed to South-East Asia to support the CSG.
“Pacific Steller 2025 allows us to practice seamless integration with our French and Japanese allies in a multi-domain environment,” said Rear Adm. Michael Wosje, commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 in the 7th Fleet release. “Coordinated operations between USS Carl Vinson, FS Charles De Gaulle, and JS Kaga strengthen our alliances and deter our adversaries. Together, we seek to maintain an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, free of all forms of coercion, and we’re excited to work alongside our allies and partners who share that vision.”
Earlier disclosures by the French Navy on Pacific Steller mentioned the participation of Australia and Canada. Although Thursday’s releases made no mention of participation by both countries, Australia currently has destroyer HMAS Hobart (DDG39) conducting a regional presence deployment in South East Asia while two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A Poseidon MPAs – one staging out of Singapore and the other out of the Philippines – are also deployed in the region. Canadian frigate HMCS Ottawa (FFH341) is also on a presence-and-engagement deployment with the frigate wrapping up a four-day port visit to Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Hobart together with an RAAF P-8A, joined destroyer USS Benfold (DDG-65) and a P-8A Poseidon from Patrol Squadron (VP) 47, Philippine Navy frigate BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) and JMSDF destroyer Akizuki to carry out a multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
A People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) frigate, CNS Dali (553) shadowed the drill, based on photos included with the release.
Dali was one of three PLAN ships sailing through the Philippines’ archipelagic sea lanes and tracked by the Philippines from Sunday to Tuesday, the other two ships being cruiser CNS Zunyi (107) and a Type 903 Fuchi class fleet oiler. The Philippines stated that while innocent passage through its archipelagic sea lanes, the PLAN ships had not complied with international norms, slowing down during the transit when ships are expected to transit expeditiously.
On Tuesday, state media Philippine News Agency reported Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, as stating that the PLAN ships were in the Sulu Sea and on the way to exiting the Philippine EEZ, though based on the photos released by 7th Fleet, Dali returned to the Philippine EEZ to monitor the MCA drills.
China’s Southern Theater Command in a statement denied any wrongdoing during the passage and said, “The Philippines has slandered and hyped up the normal passage of the Chinese fleet, seriously damaging the normal shipping and navigation rights of other countries, including China.”
The Chinese military command on Wednesday also denounced the MCA. “The Philippines has organized so-called ‘joint patrols’ to attract countries outside the region to create instability in the South China Sea, endorse its illegal claims in the South China Sea, and erode China’s legitimate maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea,” said Southern Theater Command, Colonel Tian Junli in a statement.
