French Navy had not experienced “engagement with this level of armament” for a very long time. Captain Jérôme Henry has been the commander of the multi-mission frigate (FREMM) Alsace since July 2023.
He has returned from a 71-day mission in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, where his ship escorted commercial ships attacked by the Houthi rebels. The Houthis do not hesitate to use drones that fly at water level, to explode them on commercial ships, and to fire ballistic missiles. We had to provide at least half a dozen assistances following Houthi strikes. We noticed major fires… “We did not necessarily expect thislevel of threat. There was an uninhibited violence that was quite surprising and very significant”, says Captain Henry, who was on the front line of the conflict in Houthi-controlled Yemen. “We had to providing at leastHalf a dozen assists following Houthis strikes,” he adds.