There’s also an ATL2 in Djibouti used mainly in support of TF150 and the 10 Mirage 2000 are only here to protect the airspace of Djibouti.

I’ve seen a number of “news” reports that are saying 12F deployed with USS Theodore Roosevelt and her battlegroup instead of returning to Landivisiau (sp?). Can someone confirm that 12F has returned home or in fact deployed?

Squadron 12F is has returned to NAS Landivisiau and 2 planes are currently on QRA at NAS Lann Bihoue.

Regards

@ IRAF_PILOT

Apparently, the iraqi air force seems to be interested in getting second hand french Gazelles (some rumours say about 50 helos). Do you have any information about that?

The link (in french):http://www.ttu.fr/francais/Articles/gazelled’occasio.html

Bosnian Gazelle with new insignia and serial

Are the cannons removed when the targeting pod is carried as they are when the recce pack is fitted? With the Anemone radar, must the cannons still be removed when the AM.39 Exocet is carried?

Yes the cannons are removed when the ATLIS or DAMOCLES pod is fitted and also when the AM39 is carried. But i don’t know if it’s necessary to remove them when LGBs are carried?

For the ANEMONE radar: its first role is the air to sea mode which is apparently very effective (big ships can be locked at more than 100nm).
But in the air mode, it doesnt have an look down capacity (no doppler function) and the range is apparently not very important (only 40nm)

AFAIK, it can still carry both the Super 530F/D and R.550 Magic II missiles, but isn’t really used in the air-to-air role much these days.

I could be wrong on all of this though.

The Super 530F is no longer in service with the FAF (and the Super 530D is only used by M2000C). As you said, the primary role of F1 CT is ground attack, but there are still 2 aircrafts in QRA in the west of France ready to intercept hijacked airliners coming from the USA.

From what I understand, French SuE’s no longer carry unguided rockets of any type.

You’re right PII. Both the french navy and air force have withdrawn rockets (68 and 100mm) from service since a decade. But currently the FAF is thinking of the reintroducing of rockets for CAS in low-threat areas (Afghanistan, Africa, …)