Despite its imposing size —with 261.50 meters in length— and its privileged technology, being the first non-American nuclear aircraft carrier, security is not the strong suit of the French ship Charles de Gaulle.
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A month ago, the offshore training of one of the crew members of the French fleet heading to Iran revealed, due to an oversight, the exact real-time position of the ships in the middle of a military operation. The young officer used the Strava application to record his personal best, which led to the publication of his route on the platform, something that, according to the French Armed Forces, went against regulations and would entail “appropriate measures”.
Following the incident, according to the French newspaper Le Figaro, a group of journalists from a local Dutch media outlet tried to check the security level of the operation, with the aim of introducing a Bluetooth tracker into the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate Evertsen, one of the ships accompanying the French aircraft carrier.
The Dutch Ministry of Defense confesses that envelopes do not undergo such exhaustive control and promises to review its guidelines
What started as a curiosity has highlighted a security flaw in the vessel, and was able to inform carriers about the ship’s position and route after evading all security controls.
To achieve this, journalists from the Dutch newspaper Omroep Gelderland bought a small chip for less than 10 euros and used the Dutch defense postal service, which manages communications between military personnel and their families. After wrapping it in an envelope, they sent the tracker to the crew, and it managed to bypass mail controls and go unnoticed.
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Once on board, the Dutch media outlet was able to track the ships from the Dutch naval base of Den Helder to the Greek port of Heraklion. It was as the ship approached Cyprus that the tracking device, after being discovered, disconnected.
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The ship Evertsen is one of the frigates tasked with defending the Charles de Gaulle since its deployment in early March. Alongside the Dutch ship, an Italian vessel and the frigate Cristóbal Colón were also sailing, the latter being later relieved by the frigate Méndez Núñez.
While aircraft carriers are easy to detect due to their size, their precise real-time location remains secret, according to statements by Admiral Alain Oudot de Dainville, former Chief of Staff of the Navy, to France Télévisions.
For its part, the Dutch Ministry of Defense assured that packages are thoroughly examined before entering military vessels, but that control of envelopes is much less exhaustive. Thus, it stated that it would review its guidelines regarding military mail.
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