[3] The draft statute, prepared by the Naval General Staff in 1949, asked for four aircraft carriers of 20,000 tons to be available in two phases.

Like her sister ship Clemenceau, Foch underwent a modernization and refit, replacing four of her eight 100-millimetre (3.9 in) guns with two Crotale air-defense systems.

On 7 May 1977, two Crusaders went separately on patrol against what were supposedly French Air Force (4/11 Jura squadron) F-100 Super Sabres stationed at Djibouti.

The leader intercepted two fighters and initiated a dogfight as part of the training exercise, but quickly called his wingman for help as he had actually engaged two Yemeni MiG-21 Fishbeds.

In October 1984, France sent Foch for Operation Mirmillon off the coast of Libya, in response to tension in the Gulf of Sidra.

She also was part of NATO's Allied force operations with Super Étendards flying strike missions over Serbia in 1999.

She was forced to withdraw early four months into her deployment, the longest in her service history, due to problems with her catapult system and other issues.