Last November, a Royal Australian Navy base near Perth was the port of call for an unusual patrol composed of two French ships, the nuclear-powered attack submarine Emeraude and the support and assistance vessel Seine. The French patrol trained with the Australian navy before sailing to the South China Sea, where it served as part of France’s efforts to challenge China’s sweeping maritime claims in the region. In addition to serving as another example of France’s ambition to be a real player in the Indo-Pacific, this long-distance and long-duration deployment demonstrated the growing importance of French-Australian cooperation.
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