A group of Bahraini and French officials and businessmen visited the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle currently touring the Arabian Gulf.  

A group of Bahraini and French officials and businessmen visited the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle currently touring the Arabian Gulf.
"It was a great opportunity to show our friends this magnificent piece of French technology and power," the French Ambassador, Anita Limido, said.
Those who visited the Charles de Gaulle by helicopters included the Commander of Bahrain Royal Naval Force, Col. Youssef Malallah, the President of the Commission of Defence and Foreign Affairs at the Parliament, Ahmed Behzad, in charge of France-Bahrain cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dhafer Al Umran, the president of the France-Bahrain Business club, Abdullah Al Jum'a, the director of Alliance Française, Hervé Caraz, the president of Bahrain Business Association, Khalid Al Moayed, Hassan Abdulaziz Al A'ali from AMA Group, the Regional Manager of BNP-Paribas, Jean-Christophe Durand, the General Manager Aluminium Bahrain, Bruce Hall, the Saudi Arabia Defence Attaché, Lt-Col. Abdulrahman Al Qahtani, the French Ambassador, Anita Limido, the French Defence Attache, Commander Jean-Marc Guyetand, the Counsellor French Embassy, Stephane Baumgarth and the Deputy Commercial Counsellor French Embassy, Camille Laurent-Nahab.
Led by Rear Admiral Jacques Mazars, (Commander Task Force 473), the units contributing to Operation Agapanthe 04 left Toulon on March 1 for a three-month deployment to the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf.
The Battle Group, formed around the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle transited the Suez canal on March 7 and has been operating in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf since. Task Force 473, as it is officially titled, includes the French frigate Jean Bart, the British destroyer HMS Gloucester, the French nuclear attack submarine Amethyste and the French replenishment ship Meuse. Other TF 473 ships are working in the north of the Indian Ocean (French Anti Aircraft Warfare frigate Duquesne, French Anti Submarine Warfare frigate Montcalm).
The aim of the Agapanthe mission is to train a naval force to conduct operations for a prolonged period, far from its usual bases and to interact with the nations located in the north of the Indian Ocean and in the Arabian Gulf.
During its time in the Arabian Gulf, the Battle Group has participated in several exercises with most of countries of the area (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE).
"These activities have been very beneficial for all participants, but particularly for the Air Wing. The pilots have performed many flights in a variety of roles and have had many opportunities to train themselves in fighting DACT (dissimilar aircraft combat training) missions," Limido said.
The Charles de Gaulle air wing is composed of 8 Rafale, 11 Super Etendard, 2 E2C Hawkeye aircraft and 2 Dauphin, 1 Alouette III and 1 PUMA (Army) helicopters.
The next destination for TF 473 is Goa (India) for FS Charles de Gaulle and FS Jean Bart and Bombay for HMS Gloucester and FS Montcalm. The Task Group will perform a major exercise with the Indian Navy called Varun 04.
Agapanthe is a type of flower found in the south of France, near the Task Group home port of Toulon on the Cote d'Azur.
The ambassador said that the Charles de Gaulle possessed outstanding features.
"The latest French aircraft carrier forms part of a defence strategy perfectly adapted to contemporary geopolitical realities. A means of projection unique in Europe, it strengthens the naval potential of our continent," the ambassador said.
"It represents the ideal response to risks generated by instability and specific crisis in all areas of the world," Limido said.
"With dimensions comparable with those of the Clemenceau and the Foch she provides twice the overall performance. Her construction is the result of an industrial challenge in which more than 1,000 companies participated, for the greater part French and European, given the task of designing, studying and producing the parts of this gigantic puzzle," she said.