France said it is taking “appropriate measures” after reporting by Le Monde and others tied a French naval officer’s use of the Strava exercise app to the near-geolocation of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean.
In the account Le Monde published this week, the newspaper said it used Strava data to identify an officer who it believed was jogging during the morning of March 13, then matched that to a satellite image taken that same day to locate the carrier, which is helping protect French and allied assets during the Iran war.
French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet said the Strava use reported by Le Monde “does not comply with the current guidelines,” adding that “appropriate measures are being taken by the command.” Vernet told The Associated Press that sailors are regularly made aware of security risks tied to connected devices, including the use of social media in their private lives and how digital applications can enable geolocation.
Vernet also said that, to prevent disclosure of information relating to a vessel, the French navy applies different levels of restrictions on connected devices. He said those levels are determined by the command depending on the level of threat.
France, however, said the carrier’s deployment this month was not a secret. The carrier’s commander had even briefed journalists by video link from aboard the nuclear-powered vessel on the same day Le Monde said the officer jog occurred.
Rear Adm. Thibault Haudos de Possesse, the aircraft carrier group commander, said multiple warships—including French and allied-nation frigates—were escorting the Charles de Gaulle. He said the deployment included 20 Rafale fighter jets, two Hawkeye surveillance planes and three helicopters.
Le Monde said the location challenge was that the carrier strike group’s position was disclosed almost in real time on a public digital platform, at a moment when the Iran war continues. The paper cited a drone attack on March 12 that targeted a Kurdish military base in the Erbil region, killing French soldier Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion and wounding six others.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also announced the name of France’s next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, saying it will be larger than the Charles de Gaulle. Macron said the future ship, France Libre (“Free France”), is expected to enter service in 2038 and will have a capacity for 30 Rafale jets and 2,000 sailors.
The new vessel will have a displacement of about 80,000 tons and a length of 310 meters (1,017 feet), compared with 42,000 tons and 261 meters (856 feet) for the Charles de Gaulle.