An aircraft carrier can be a very handy tool, especially when trouble flares up far from a friendly military base. Just ask the Pentagon, which has 10 big Nimitz-class supercarriers that it uses around the world to protect air and sea lanes and to mount airstrikes. There’s generally at least one of them stationed near the Middle East at all times.

So, as other countries join in military action against extremists in the world’s hot spots, can’t they send their own carriers into action?

Well, they could if they had any. But, aside from the 10 American giants, there’s currently only one big carrier in the whole world that can handle such a job — and it doesn’t belong to Britain, Russia or even China.

It’s the Charles de Gaulle, the flagship and pride of the French Navy, and it’s been sent several times to join the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and in Libya. The carrier’s strike group performed so well in pounding the militants in the region that the United States Navy awarded it a Meritorious Unit Commendation in June. And President François Hollande of France announced on July 13 that the Charles de Gaulle would be redeployed to the Middle East this fall.