France said Tuesday it will send a naval task force led by one of its two aircraft carriers into the Adriatic Sea for possible intervention in the former Yugoslav republics.

Warplanes and combat helicopters aboard the carrier Clemenceau could perform missions ranging from enforcing a U.N.-declared "no-fly zone" over Bosnia-Herzegovina to protecting French peacekeepers in Croatia and Bosnia. Two French soldiers were killed Monday in Croatia.Navy officials said the eight-ship task force was likely to sail from the Mediterranean port of Toulon on Thursday and could be in the Adriatic by the weekend.

The task force will include two frigates with special anti-aircraft capabilities, two frigates designed for anti-submarine warfare, two supply ships and a transport ship.

Officials said the Clemenceau and the transport ship, the Foudre, would carry a total of 30 warplanes and about 15 heli-cop-ters.

Defense Minister Pierre Joxe said the deployment was ordered by President Francois Mitterrand and would provide France with "options which we haven't had up till now."

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The Foreign Ministry spokesman, Daniel Bernard, said the task force was intended in part to ensure security of French peacekeepers. He said the ships would be under French command but would carry out operations within the framework of the U.N. Security Council.

The 32,780-ton Clemenceau, which normally has a crew of 2,339, entered service in 1961. Its last operational mission was during the Persian Gulf War.

France has several thousand soldiers serving in the U.N. peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Croatia, both racked by wars since they declared independence from Yugoslavia.

Joxe said the possibility of further escalation in Croatia could place more French troops in jeopardy. He said additional artillery units were being sent to the French troops but did not elaborate.

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