 In 2018 it was reported the navy was purchasing more vessels from French builder Raidco Marine (30 inflatable boats and 10 patrol craft), but for use by police and gendarmerie.A mutual defense accord signed with France in April 1961 provides for the stationing of French Armed Forces troops in Ivory Coast.The 43rd Marine Infantry Battalion of the French Army's Troupes de Marine () was based in Port Bouet adjacent to the Abidjan Airport from 1979 and had more than 500 troops assigned until 2011, when it appears to have been disbanded.