France takes ‘appropriate measures’ after sailor’s jogging app exposes aircraft carrier’s location

PARIS (AP) — France says it’s taking “appropriate measures” after a naval officer’s use of the Strava exercise app inadvertently enabled journalists to geolocate the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle that is in the Mediterranean to help protect French and allied assets and interests during the Iran war.

The carrier’s deployment this month was not a secret and its commander has even briefed journalists by video link from aboard the nuclear-powered 42,000-ton vessel.

Still, the French newspaper Le Monde caused a stir by using Strava to locate a naval officer who it said used the performance app during a morning jog on March 13, enabling reporters to then find the Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean using a satellite image taken that same day.

The newspaper said Thursday that it believes the officer was either jogging on the carrier or one of its escort ships.

French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet said the Strava usage reported by Le Monde “does not comply with the current guidelines. Appropriate measures are being taken by the command.”

“In the course of their duties, sailors are regularly made aware of the security risks associated with connected devices, notably the use of social media in their private lives and the potential for geolocation through digital applications,” Vernet told The Associated Press on Friday.

“To prevent any disclosure of information relating to a vessel, different levels of restrictions on the use of connected devices are applied within the French navy. These levels of restriction are determined by the command, depending on the level of threat,” he said.

French Rear Adm. Thibault Haudos de Possesse, commander of the aircraft carrier group, had briefed reporters in a video call from the Charles de Gaulle on the same day as the naval officer’s morning jog.

The commander said that multiple warships, including French and allied-nation frigates, were escorting the carrier, carrying 20 Rafale fighter jets, two Hawkeye surveillance planes and three helicopters.

Le Monde said that divulging the carrier strike-group’s location almost in real time on a public digital platform is dangerous as the Iran war rages. A drone attack on March 12 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 this week announced the name of France’s next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which will be bigger than the Charles de Gaulle. The 10 billion-euro ($11.5 billion) France Libre (“Free France”), which is expected to enter service in 2038, will have a capacity for 30 Rafale fighter 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 to 42,000 tons and 261 meters (856 feet) for the Charles de Gaulle.