Heller Task Force "Ravitaillement A La Mer

The centerpiece of modern navies, the "Task Force," enables the projection of large military forces in connection with regional crises or more serious conflicts. This unit, structured around one or more aircraft carriers, is protected by air defense and submarine escort, followed by a replenishment group responsible for refueling at sea. As early as the 1960s, the French Navy established such groups. The new aircraft carriers Clemenceau and Foch were often accompanied by an escort of Tartars, named after the air defense system with which vessels like Kersaint and Dupetit-Thouars are equipped. Outside their home port and in hostile zones, it is necessary to supply the group with fuel, ammunition, spare parts, and fresh food. This is the task of the tankers, with the first modern ships equipped for this purpose being the Seine and the Saône. In a delicate operation known as replenishment at sea, or RAM, several ships operate together, with the tanker often flanked on one side by the aircraft carrier and on the other by an escort. Fuel is transferred using flexible hoses, while goods are brought on board via pallets suspended from a net. Finally, an important detail for all sailors aboard these warships is that family mail arrives during such refueling operations at sea.