Rear Admiral Morio de l’Isle thank you for taking the time to speak with me on behalf of the ANI to discuss the implications of a new defence partnership between Australia and France.
Q1). On April 26, 2016 Australia’s Prime Minister the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP announced that a multi-billion Australian defence contract to rebuild the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet of diesel-powered submarines, would be awarded to France’s DCNS. This is the largest contract of its kind ever to be awarded to a French company. The submarines are to be built locally in Adelaide, South Australia benefitting this country with much needed cutting-edge technology and innovation, jobs, skills and access to French savoir-faire. On December 20th 2016 French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull signed an inter-governmental agreement confirming the design and construction of 12 regionally superior submarines, to assure Australia’s security and prosperity. An Australian ally across two World Wars, France is an advanced industrial nation and the custodian of technological know-how, expertise, research and development.
To what extent does this contract signify a new step, indeed a milestone, in the Australia-France strategic partnership and do you envisage stronger bilateral ties between our two nations across the Defence sector as a result?
A1). The industrial defense cooperation between France and Australia already existed before this contract was signed. Indeed, Australian armed forces already operate French equipment, in the Army with the Tiger helicopter and the Air Force with the HC 30 MRTT for instance. Nevertheless, the acquisition process of 12 submarines is nothing compared to the previous contracts regarding the strategic importance of such assets, the expected lifetime of these ships and the transfer of technology to the Australian domestic industry.
Through this cooperation, France will share with Australia industrial and technical expertise which results from 50 years of experience in building and operating nuclear submarines, corner stones of its national nuclear deterrence policy. Thanks to a strong and lasting political commitment to an independent and autonomous nuclear deterrent capability over the years, France is today the European country and one of the 4 world nations (with the US, Russia and China) able to produce nuclear submarines in its entirety.
For the first time, France will share knowledge and technologies gained from more than half a century of experience with a foreign nation. Not only will our industries be closer but our Navies too, as the design of the Australian submarine will be similar to one of the brand new French SSN, Barracuda class, that the French Navy will operate from 2019. This similarity will allow mutual exchanges and feedback between our submarine forces, regarding training, operations and so on, strengthening the ties between our Navies for the next 50 years.
Q 2). In some quarters, France is considered an unusual choice for Australia as a Defence Partner. Our country, given the cultural and regional ties, tends to work closely with Britain and the United States of America. France however boasts a longstanding historical relationship with Australia that dates back to the earliest days of European settlement here with the arrival into Botany Bay of Jean-Francois de Galaup, Count of Lapérouse on 26th January 1788 in the context of a French scientific expedition, across the Pacific.
Do you see areas where the Royal Australian Navy and French Navy can work more closely and directly together, in order to take advantage of a new era in defence relations, to strengthen, deepen and complement the current maritime partnership?
A 2). The Australian and French Navies are already close partners especially in the South-Pacific region, where we are neighbors regarding the French territories of New-Caledonia and French-Polynesia. Members of the QUAD alliance (quadrilateral agreement with the USA and New-Zealand), our Navies operate alongside one another to preserve the regional stability by supporting the Pacific Island Countries in the protection of their maritime domains and resources.
For instance, several regional fishery control operations are conducted every year in International waters or within the EEZ of regional partners by French and Australian assets. Our Navies also work regularly together in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations, through the FRANZ agreement, most recently when Vanuatu was hit by Cyclone Pam in March 2015. We are also involved in fighting illegal drug trafficking in this region.
In the South Indian Ocean where France and Australia both own some remote southern territories, our navies collaborate via the use of cross-boarding fishery controllers during surveillance deployments in their respective EEZ.
France and Australia, who have both recently suffered terror attacks on their homeland territory, also operate side by side in the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean fighting against Islamic terrorism as part of the international coalition led by the USA. For example, HMAS Darwin joined the French Carrier Strike Group in February 2016. This kind of combined operation at a high level of engagement has a strong impact on the inter-operability between our armed forces which operate together at sea, but also in the air and on the ground.
Through regional forums, like IONS or WPNS, France and Australia have a shared commitment to defending international law and the freedom of navigation. In the South China Sea, the large-scale land reclamation works and the militarization of contested archipelagos has changed the status quo and increased tension. This situation is one of our common areas of attention. The French and Australian Navies regularly deploy warships in this region and are always ready to interact with other partners to increase the security of the sea lines of communication and demonstrate our attachment to the UNCLOS which is regularly challenged.
Our respective Chiefs of Navy recently agreed to enhance joint naval cooperation, by strengthening regional cooperation in the South-Pacific and South-Indian Ocean, increasing our interoperability especially in amphibious and submarine warfare, establishing exchange programs for our Officers and developing cooperation in the military scientific research field.
Q 3). How does France differ from Australia’s traditional Anglo-Saxon allies, and what benefits in working directly together with France can you identify for us? Would greater cooperation with France provide Australia with opportunities and benefits that might not otherwise be available to us, thus safeguarding our national security capability and regional sovereignty, as a young nation that is constantly growing and changing in a dynamic environment?
A 3). The USA and the UK are obviously two main partners for Australia, but France has always remained strategically independent thanks to capacities for an independent situational assessment and its autonomous deterrence, and has proven its ability to operate when required, for instance in Mali and the Sahel Region since 2013 to counter terrorist groups threatening France’s interests or the Sovereignty of its African partners.
Australia has always played a major role in the South-Pacific as the regional power, leading the security initiatives to ensure regional stability. This region will continue to face known threats, such as illegal exploitation of the resources, but will also have to deal with new challenges linked to global warming. The rise of the sea level and the increase of the frequency and strength of cyclones causing humanitarian disasters will directly impact on the PICs and will put regional stability at risk. In this field, France and Australia, as South-Pacific Nations aim to cooperate more fully to assist and protect the most vulnerable populations and preserve regional stability.
France and Australia also join forces to combat narcotics-trafficking in the South-Pacific, which has been on the rise in recent years. In January 2017, 1.4 tons of cocaine had been intercepted at sea in the French Polynesia EEZ. In February another 1.4 tons had been discovered by the Royal Australian Navy aboard a sailing vessel off the coast of Sydney. The increase in narcotics-trafficking between South America and Australia, transiting via the French Polynesia EEZ, is a real challenge considering the immensity of the South Pacific and the limited assets available to patrol, detect and intercept smugglers. The only way to defeat this transnational crime is to increase our cooperation by sharing information and develop efficient means of monitoring the maritime domain.
Q 4). The surveillance of maritime activity in the Southern Pacific Ocean combined with assistance provided to insular island states, is assured under the FRANZ agreement – France, Australia, New Zealand. France is also one of Australia’s neighbour’s with New Caledonia, Wallis & Futuna and Tahiti in the Pacific, and the Reunion and Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean. There is also a French base in the Antarctic and a scientific research vessel stationed in Hobart, Tasmania. Are you pleased with the way regional defence agreements such as FRANZ and QUAD are functioning and what can be done in this context to improve and strengthen relations with France?
A 4). FRANZ is focused on HADR, planning mutual assistance between Australia, New-Zealand and France or common assistance to a regional neighbor. This framework has proved useful and efficient and was last used in 2015 and 2016 to assist Vanuatu and Fiji. Training exercises, such as “Croix du Sud” in New-Caledonia or Kakadu in Australia, are conducted every year in the French territories, Australia or New-Zealand to keep on developing the interoperability of our armed forces and improve the regional readiness in terms of HADR operations.
The QUAD deals with maritime security and the protection of resources. Indeed this initiative is mainly focused on fishery protection to preserve the fish stocks which attract foreign fleets in the PICs’ EEZ and international waters where fishing rights are ruled by regional agreements such as the WCPFC. QUAD could also prove to be efficient in countering the development of narcotics-trafficking in the South-Pacific.
Both FRANZ and QUAD are two efficient initiatives for the stability of the South-Pacific. The cooperation between France and Australia within these two frameworks is very satisfying. Moreover, the arrival of two brand new multi role vessels in Noumea and Tahiti in 2016 demonstrates France’s willingness to assume its responsibilities in this context as a South-Pacific Nation, in securing the maritime domain, and will offer new opportunities of cooperation with Australia and Regional Partners.
Q 5). What areas of exchange do you feel would benefit both Australia and France across one another’s navies, including education and training courses, military secondments and personnel exchanges, infrastructure and logistical support, strategic dialogues, and enhanced naval exercises?
A 5). To further enhance and develop our cooperation, which is already sound and functions well at a regional level in terms of maritime security, we should ideally now focus on improved interoperability in both medium to high intensity operations. The last cooperation plan, agreed to by our Chiefs of Navy last July, sets out a list of aims and objectives and their orientation. Through exchanges in the use of new assets, especially amphibious vessels or ASW capacities, Australian Officers implanted in French Naval headquarters, or French task force command structures and the increase of interactions at sea, our sailors will grow together and become more familiar in working alongside one another at times in demanding operational situations. Of course, the cooperation between our Submarine fleets is a major challenge but also a great opportunity to strengthen the relationship as there is a strong willingness on both sides to share information on recruitment, teaching, training, organisation, concept and functioning of an operation and so forth, to support the building, commissioning and operational use of the future Royal Australian Navy’s new submarine fleet.
NICOLE FORREST GREEN has a background in finance and legal administration specialising in cross-border business and investment. A fluent French-speaker she is President of the Friends of the Lapérouse Museum in Sydney, Chair of the Australian Opera Awards Committee, and a Director of the Australia-Philippines Business Council. In January 2017 she was awarded an Ordre National du Mérite in the rank of Chevalier.
