I was wondering how they were going to accomplish that, because France's navy is in pitiful shape. I believe the aircraft carrier Foch is docked because they can't afford new aircraft? Something silly like that.

Sorry Simon, there doesn't appear to be any rush. The four days is referring to how much time they've had for preparations since their arrival. Still no dice for me at seeing how this could have been politically motivated, except the usual "subtle statements" that is nothing new.

this is hilarious, you just totally lost contact with reality.
do you happen to know france has nuclear subs ? and a nuclear carrier ?
and destroyers it sells all over the world ?
I won't even mention planes and missiles.
this is just wishfull thinking or cheap propaganda.
do you know we are reprocessing your weapon's grade plutonium at this very moment, because the US lacks the technology to do it itself?
stop kidding.

Just for fun (and info) this is an extract of www.naval-technology.com/index.html

This is the standard french frigate of today (I wonder where you got the photos of the rust buckets here above)

"quote"
LA FAYETTE FRIGATES, FRANCE
The French Navy's La Fayette class multipurpose stealth frigates have been developed by DCN International and built at the DCN Lorient Naval Dockyard. The French Navy awarded DCN the contracts to construct the La Fayette (F710), Surcoef (F711) and Courbet (F712) frigates in 1988, and Aconit (F713) and Guepratte (F714) in 1992. The lead ship, La Fayette, was commissioned in 1996 and the last, Guepratte, was commissioned in November 2001. DCN have also built an anti-submarine warfare version for Taiwan (Kang Ding) and an anti-air version for Saudi Arabia (F3000S) under the Sawari II programme. All three have been launched and the first, Al Riyadh, was commissioned in July 2002. Singapore has ordered six Project Delta stealth frigates, also based on the La Fayette, to enter service by 2009. The first, RSS Formidable, built in France, was launched in January 2004. The other five ships - Intrepid, Steadfast, Tenacious, Stalwart and Supreme - are being built by Singapore Technologies Marine. Intrepid was launched in July 2004.

The La Fayette class incorporates a number of stealth features - the sides of the vessel are sloped at 10° to minimise radar cross section, surfaces have been coated in radar-absorbent paint and the profiles of external features have been reduced.

COMMAND AND CONTROL

The combat data system is the Thales (formerly Thomson-CSF) TAVITAC 2000 system and the OPSMER command support system is also fitted.

The main gun fire control system is DCN's CTM system which is supported by the Castor radar, an infrared tracking system and laser rangefinder. SAGEM's TDS 90 optronic target designation sight is also fitted.

MISSILES

The ship's surface-to-surface missile is the Exocet MM40 from MBDA (formerly EADS Aerospatiale). Two four-cell launchers are installed in a midship position between the two masts. The anti-ship missile has a range of 70km and approaches the target in sea skimming mode at high subsonic speed, approximately 0.95 Mach. The 165kg shaped charge warhead has time delayed impact proximity fuses.

The French Navy has awarded MBDA a contract for the Exocet MM40 Block 3 missile to be deployed on vessels from 2006. The Block 3 missile will have a new turbojet propulsion system which will give a range extended to 180km.

The ship's surface-to-air missile system is the Thales Crotale Naval CN2. The system employs the VT-1 missile with a range of 13km and speed of Mach 3.6. The guidance is by command line of sight with radar and infra-red homing. 24 missiles are carried. The frigates may be upgraded with the vertical launch system (VLS) and Aster 15 missile from Eurosam and associated Thales Arabel fire control radar. Sixteen missiles will be carried.

GUNS

The ship's main gun on the bow deck is the DCN 100mm which fires a 13.5kg shell to a range of 16 km. The gun has a firing rate of 80 rounds/min. Two 20mm Model 20F2 guns from Giat are installed with a firing rate of 720 rounds/min to a range of 10km.

HELICOPTERS

The frigate has a flight deck at the stern with a single landing spot, for use by 10t helicopters such as AS 565 MA Panther, SA 321G Super Frelon or NH 90. The flight deck can be used up to Sea State 6.

COUNTERMEASURES

The Thales ARBR 21 (DR 3000S) radar warning receiver, operating in D to K bands, is mounted at the top of the main mast. A Thales ARBB33 jammer operates at H, I and J bands.

Two EADS Matra Systèmes & Information Dagaie chaff and flare launching systems are installed on the gun deck aft of the bridge.

SENSORS

The Sea Tiger Mark 2 air and surface search radar from Thales is mounted on the top of the second platform mast. Sea Tiger operates at E and F bands and the range is over 100km. The Thales Castor 2J, operating at J band, is a fire control radar with a range of over 15km. The Crotale fire control radar operates at J band. Two Model 1229 navigation and helicopter control radars from Thales Defence operate at I band.

PROPULSION

The propulsion system is a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) arrangement. The system is based on four SEMT Pielstick 12 PA6 V 280 STC diesel engines, rated at 21,000hp. Two shafts drive controllable pitch propellers. The ship is fitted with a bow thruster. The propulsion system provides a maximum speed of 25 and, at an economical speed of 12 knots, the range is 9,000 nautical miles
"unquote"