Running app reveals location of France aircraft carrier in Mediterranean

The French aircraft carrier Charles-de-Gaulle is seen as it passes through the Strait of Gibraltar off the coast of southern Spain in Tarifa, on March 6, 2026.(Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)
The French aircraft carrier Charles-de-Gaulle is seen as it passes through the Strait of Gibraltar off the coast of southern Spain in Tarifa, on March 6, 2026.(Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

A member of the French navy using an app to track his jogging performance broadcast the exact position of his country’s flagship aircraft carrier, a newspaper reports

France deployed the Charles de Gaulle — and accompanying frigates — to the Mediterranean in early March shortly after US-Israeli strikes on Iran sparked war in the Middle East.

It has been in the eastern Mediterranean since March 9 as part of what Emmanuel Macron has called a “purely defensive” posture in support of France’s allies in the conflict.

Le Monde newspaper reports that the runner jogged in circles on a ship in movement on March 13 in the middle of the sea northwest of Cyprus, according to his public profile on the Strava fitness tracking app, while satellite images showed the aircraft carrier was in the immediate vicinity at the time.

The same person had also been running in Copenhagen, Denmark, in late February, across a bridge from Malmo, Sweden, where the Charles de Gaulle was anchored at the time, Strava data showed.

The French armed forces told AFP that appropriate measures would be taken if the report was true, as members of the navy were regularly reminded about the risk of security breaches using such apps.

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