vendredi 31 mai 2019

Conference Report - Marine Nationale and Royal Navy Common Challenges

A co-publication with Naval News, the online news portal to bring you coverage of the latest naval defense shows & events, and reports on naval technology from all over the world.

During a recent joint conference organized by the French think-tank IFRI, Admiral Prazuck, Chief of Staff of the French Navy, and his British counterpart, Admiral Sir Philip Jones, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff for the Royal Navy, discussed some of the current and common challenges facing their navies.

The conference was placed under the Chatham House Rule, so the remarks cannot be explicitly attributed to one or the other of the speakers (and the Q&A session can not be disclosed here), but it is nevertheless possible to highlight a couple of key points that emerged from the discussions between the two chiefs of navies. 
First, a genuine and sincere shared perception by both chiefs of staff that “more than just sister navies close on different levels, we are twin navies”. And “as with all twins, one was out of the womb before the other, and is considered to be the first. I’ll let you decide which one is which”, replied one of them. This proximity has consequences in operations and both have an undisguised desire to continue despite the current uncertainties of Brexit (a term never mentioned as such during the conference however).