Paris: The near real-time location of France's aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was inadvertently revealed when a sailor recorded a deck jog on the popular sports tracking app Strava, exposing the warship's position in the Mediterranean as it deployed toward Iran.

According to Anadolu Agency, the breach was first reported by the Le Monde daily, which noted that a young naval officer used a connected smartwatch to log a run of just over seven kilometers on the ship's deck. This activity was broadcast almost in real time on the sailor's public Strava profile, inadvertently sharing the carrier's location.

Le Monde verified the breach using satellite imagery taken shortly after the jog, which clearly showed the distinctive outline of the 262-meter carrier northwest of Cyprus island, roughly 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Turkish coast. This incident occurred as France had announced the carrier's deployment on March 3, following the start of US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

The Armed Forces General Staff confirmed to Le Monde that posting the run was not in compliance with current instructions on digital security, adding that "appropriate measures will be taken by the command." Further investigation by the newspaper revealed at least one other crew member aboard a French naval vessel on active deployment had also publicly posted geolocated sports activity, indicating a wider issue with digital security compliance among naval personnel.