The federal government is still considering attaching a warship to a French carrier task group set to conduct air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
But it's ruled out relaxing current rules of engagement to allow RAAF combat aircraft to step up attacks on IS targets in Syria.
"The request to send a warship to join a French Navy taskforce in the Persian Gulf is still under consideration by the government," a spokesman for Defence Minister Marise Payne told AAP.
France invited Australia to deploy a warship to join the escort group for the carrier Charles de Gaulle, which sailed this week and will take up station in the northern Persian Gulf later in November, launching attacks on IS in Syria and Iraq.
French combat aircraft flying from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan attacked IS targets in Syria over the weekend in immediate retaliation for the Paris terror attacks which killed at least 129 people.
Australian warship HMAS Melbourne is now operating in the Middle East as part of the multinational taskforce conducting security, counter-piracy and counter-narcotics operations.
Australian combat aircraft, also flying from the UAE, launched missions against IS targets in Iraq in October last year and in Syria in September.
Although Syria is the heartland of IS, coalition air attacks have been limited because of the absence of reliable targeting information.
Since September, Australian aircraft have conducted nine missions and dropped just two bombs.
Some commentators have suggested Australia should ease restrictive rules of engagement, which are intended to minimise the risk of civilian casualties but which mean some strikes are abandoned.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott suggested on Tuesday that Australia could help the war against IS by adopting less restrictive targeting rules.
The government has no such plans, a spokesman for Senator Payne said.
Share
