Has France quietly become Europe’s real naval power?
Greece is a customer of the French Belharra frigates (FDI). (Photo: Naval Group)
The Marine nationale’s consistent deployments, healthy shipbuilding drumbeat and growing export portfolio are forcing a reassessment of where European naval capability now resides.
While political attention has largely focused on rearmament pledges across NATO’s northern and eastern flanks in recent years, France has been steadily consolidating a naval position that few of its European peers can match.
An operationally available nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a frigate fleet that has grown through the 2010s rather than contracted and an export record that continues to attract new customers have combined to place the Marine nationale in a category increasingly difficult for allies to rival.
While France was able to deploy Charles de Gaulle to the eastern Mediterranean on 5 March 2025, with the intention of providing carrier-based strike
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