How long will it before there is a real need for troop carrying helicopters and or MERT helicopters and if the need is identified who will supply them as this is possibly another area the French are lacking at this time.

Hmm

Last I looked, the ALAT alone had 130 Pumas and 30 Cougars ( the latter mainly for CSAR ).

Of course, they’re not all in theatre or online but neither are the UK assets you’re suggesting.

Against that the RAF with 36 Pumas and 20 Merlins and the RN with 37 Commandos looks rather second-rate.

They may be lacking in heavy-lift ( no Chinook equivalent ) but the French army has always been well-equipped with basic troop lift.

On the contrary, the RAF didn’t even want the Pumas and when they were foisted upon them the Army had to be content leaving them to moving high-value, time-critical assets ( e.g. MILAN or Blowpipe teams ) rather than troop assaults. There just weren’t ever enough of them.

Compare with the SAAF who found 67 Pumas insufficient for their needs!

What, no rail-guns and orbital weapons platforms? :confused:

Seriously though, when the dust settles in five or six months it will be clear that Syria is an impoverished nation. Assad’s regime had been reducing subsidies on fuel and grain over the past few years simply because there is no money in the coffers.

GDP per capita 2010

Jordan $2,600
Syria $2,800
Turkey $5,700
Israel $22,000

There won’t be funds to fly huge glistening fleets of supersonic fighters; Gazelles, Mi-17s and L-39s will suffice.

The only conflict is likely to intra-national between factions and tribes, with the possibility of tension in the north with Turkey over disputed water course projects.

No it looks different.
it is a shield with upper left part black (or dark blue) lower right part red
with from top right to bottom left a yellow strip (could also be a lightning flash)

:confused:

Did you look at the old Gendarmerie shield? Exactly as you described.

Plenty of examples here. For example:

The original picture posted by gkozak is of a Belgian Gendarmerie ( Police ) SA.318, no doubt whatsoever.

Edit: gkozak’s image was taken prior to 2001, in which year the Gendarmerie Air Support Unit shield was replaced by the blue-and-red “flame” logo of the Belgian Federal Police.

Edit2: Ah, in post 397 I linked to an image showing the new logo. Sorry for any confusion.

a little bit of Photoshop:

not Chili!

Thanks Gerard, that makes it clearer.

Belgian Police SA.318 looks like a good match.

The A109’s were purchased to replace the Alouette, and it is instructive to see what the end of the Cold War did to aircraft numbers, a fact mirrored globally.

Doesn’t seem to have been the best choice for the SAAF. The Alo III had a 250 shp flat-rating reserve, but the A109 seems to be at the red-line all the time. Not a chance of two crew + brick of four troops + LMG.

The true spiritual successor to the Alo III was the SA361H with a stonking 1,400 shp Astazou XXB on a 3-tonne helicopter; hovering ceiling up around 15,000 ft and 3,000 fpm climb rate, but no-one bought it and it was withdrawn from sale. Bizarre.

The Swiss are hanging-on their their SA.316s due to their power reserve in the mountains; exchange pilots are still taken by surprise as how sprightly it is.

…
All South African Alouettes have been of the Artouste SE-3160 (SA-316A) and SA-316B variety.

Fantastic info, thanks wilhelm. That closes the question I’ve had on file for YEARS!

I don’t have personal contact with the SANDF but I do know, from working with South African ex-pats, that the forces suffered considerable brain-drain after the ANC policies began to be applied.

Many ( both competent and not so, I assume ) left as they were unable to secure promotion or opportunities under the Affirmative Action programme, some being told that there were too many of their “type” in roles such as pilots and that they would be replaced to fulfill “quotas”.

There was also a huge impact to morale after former MK and Alpa [terrorists|insurgents|freedom fighters|whatever] were merged into the ranks, severely undermining discipline.

In addition the SAAF has been burdened by unnecessary, expensive and disruptive procurements such as the Gripen. The Cheetahs had plenty of flying-life remaining but were politically unacceptable as a reminder of “the old regime”. Like all those R1 rifles that were expensively destroyed to wipe that memory away.

These policies were not invented within the SANDF.

As usual, though, the comparative Spitfire is better…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/classiccars/7952174/Battle-of-Britain-test-Spitfire-versus-Messerschmitt.html

As the writer says the Messerschmitt is more responsive, out-turns the Spit, is better-equipped and is more reliable!

Just like the real thing 😉

Of all cars which “honoured” the name of famous fighters I feel the Hurricane probably came closest in spirit: solid, dependable but a little dowdy:

Armstrong-Siddeley Hurricane

The company also offered a “Whitley” which was a four-door razor-back saloon on the same platform, as well as a “Lancaster” which was identical to the Whitley except for additional windows on a less rakish cabin.

Frazer-Nash and / or Bolton-Paul turrets were not available as options.