from defensenews.com

The Russian and French navies are conducting joint maneuvers in international waters in the Atlantic, Russian Northern Fleet spokesman Igor Babenko said here Sept. 15.

“The results (of the exercises) will be included in a safe navigation treaty for submarines outside (the two countries’) territorial waters, which will be signed by the Russian and French governments,” Babenko was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Interfax.

As part of the maneuvers, the Russian nuclear submarine “Vepr” and the French nuclear submarine “Emerald” were conducting a number of underwater and surface exercises, Babenko added.

A Russian anti-submarine warfare vessel, the “Admiral Chabanenko”, and the French destroyer “Tourville” also are taking part. The maneuvers, similar to those conducted a year ago in the Barents Sea, northwest of Russia, will last through Sept. 20, Babenko said.

Following the exercises, the “Vepr” will dock at the port of Brest in northwestern France, making it the first Russian Northern Fleet vessel to visit a foreign port, according to Babenko.

Is the Nimrod MRA4 prototype currently based in Kinloss ??

Fly in FN Atlantique

Have flown in:
FN Nord 262 E
FN Xingu
RAF Nimrod
USN P-3C Orion
FAF Transall
FAF A310

There are 3 varriants of gazelle currently in use in the french army air corps (ALAT):
– gazelle canon fitted with a 20mm gun and an (oldy) ATHOS E/O turret
– gazelle VIVIANE fitted with 4 HOT anti-tank missiles (4 KM) and a VIVIANE IR/laser rangefinder turret
– gazelle MISTRAL fitted with 4 IR air-to-air MISTRAL missiles and ATHOS

Last operations with gazelle include: Haiti, Ivory coast, DRC, Ex-Yugoslavia,…

here an article about gazelle during Desert Storm (first part in french, second in english)
http://www.cdes.terre.defense.gouv.fr/sitefr/retex/cahier_retex/retex7.pdf

I think that Taiwan and the US are the 2 lonely countries to operate the Kiowa

P.S.S. Has anyone here seen a Super Etendard demonstration before? If so, what was your impression of it? I’ve heard it’s a reasonably agile airplane, but I’ve never had the chance to see one perform in person unfortunately.

I’ve seen the SEM 2 or 3 times in demonstration. Not impressive. The ATAR engine is not an example of power :rolleyes: . No comparison with Rafale, M2000 or the buzzy Hornet :cool:.

The first pic was not taken during pitch black 04: it’s a mirage 2000C not a mirage 2000-5

The last one is a AdA 2000 D

Since the start of the civil war in this country, the government has purchased some MI-24, Su-25 and Mig-23.