France Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

^ yeah a big thank you to these heroes. French president will meet them. I hope they get the Legion D'honneur medal, they deserve it.
BTW latest report indidacte they were in fact Army National Guard and US Air Force but doesn't matter really, Bravo Zulu to them

TerraN_EmpirE said:

The M4 is a HK416

Click to expand...

LOL! Shows how much I know about this stuff... Thank you sir for your response!

You weren't that far off reco, HK416's design is more or less the best parts of AR15 mated to a AR18 based gas operation with a HK rail system and selector.

First Air Strike with GBU-12 Against ISIL in Iraq for French Navy ATL2 Maritime Patrol Aircraft

The Marine Nationale (French Navy) announced that one of its Atlantique 2 (ATL 2) Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) taking part in Operation Chammal (name of the French military operation in Iraq against ISIL) hit a target with a GBU-12 laser guided bomb. The strike mission which took place on August 19 2015 was a first for a French Navy MPA during Operation Chammal.

According to the French Navy, the ATL2 MPA joined two French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) Mirage 2000 around 22h00. Together they participated in a planned mission that led to the neutralization of a building belonging to terrorist group Daech. The building was used for transit operations and as a command and control post.

Click to expand...

Jeff Head said:

I know it was off duty US Military personnel ( and although initially reported as US Marines, apparently it was actually a Army National Guard and a US Air Force personnel)...but they are military and it happened in France and you can bet that the French anti-terror people will be all over this guy.

So, here are the two US off duty personnel who stopped the terror attack on the train in France talking after they subdues the terrorist.

One was slashed in the neck with a knife by the terrorist, but is in good condition. He says, "Dude, I tried to shoot him," and the other, "He did." You can see the 26 year old terrorist where the IS personnel trussed him up on the floor.

(Note: As NavyReco stated, it was found that the were off duty US National Guard Army and US Air Force)

Click to expand...

Too courageous US guys for defend French people, BRAVO ! and Thank You, merci

The military port of Toulon well filled

On August 18, the military port of Toulon remains full, with most of the naval assets affected present at the platform or maintenance. This is true of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, who must return to sea in the autumn, maybe for a second visit to the Persian Gulf.

The three LHD (Mistral, Thunder, Dixmude) are docked, one of them, probably the Mistral, to take the Corymbe Mission (presence in the Gulf of Guinea) by the end of the year. Thunder, he will be in charge of the mission Joan of Arc in 2016, succeeding Dixmude.

The air defense frigate (FDA) Forbin, recently returned from his mission in Medor Eastern Mediterranean is at rest, such as the command ship and refueling (BCR) Var, arrived a few days after the Indian Ocean, followed by his escort, the Surcouf.

Forbin and Var must recuperate in the fall. This is already the case for the FDA Chevalier Paul, in dry dock, including planned dismantling of its PBA radar.

A frigate is also currently in dry dock.Exceptionally, five furtive light frigates are present dock and three sloops (EV Jacoubet, Commander and Commander Ducuing Bouan), anti-aircraft frigate Jean Bart, and ocean patrol vessel L'Adroit, who spends his last months in the Navy before returning to manufacturer DCNS.

Two frigates were deployed: the anti-submarine frigate Montcalm succeeded Forbin in Medor, and anti-aircraft frigate (FAA) Cassard sailed to the Persian Gulf, probably for a mission of cooperation with the US Navy.

The docks also host TCD Siroco, which ultimately were no takers for export as planned in Portugal. Among the pretexts put forward by the Portuguese dimensions of the helicopter hangar, which would not be compatible with their heavy EH101 helicopters.

Three nuclear submarines of attack (SNA) are also docked. Traditionally, the Navy does not detail the names of this type of building. But one of them had taken Wed., August 7 morning.

Like the Dupuy de Lome, a joint means of signals intelligence ship (MINNREM) who left her dock this morning, where he was waiting his turn, sandwiched between the two BCR, the Var and the Marne. This ship normally based in Brest more traditionally took up residence in Toulon, because of its recurring job Black Sea since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis

Military contract bungles by President François Hollande’s government have cost France nearly $60 billion, according to a damning report Tuesday from Boulevard Voltaire, a left-leaning newspaper based in Paris. In addition to the $2.2 billion that the failed Mistral deal with Russia is set to cost, another two fumbled contracts with India and Egypt for hundreds of Dassault Rafale fighter jets will see Paris lose an additional $57 billion.

France’s original $1.2 billion deal to build two Mistral warships for Russia was shelved in June after Paris refused to hand over the vessels because of Russia’s support for separatist rebels in Ukraine. It’s now set to cost France around $2.2 billion in compensation for breach of contract. But that failed deal is just the tip of the iceberg.

India had initially wanted to purchase 126 new Rafale fighter jets from France, but the order was reduced to less than 40 after Defense Minister Manohar Parrika complained that the outlay for the jets, parts and decades of training and refurbishment was too expensive. It now seems that the entire deal could fail as officials from France and India squabble over the final unit price for the remaining jets, according to a Reuters report.

India will instead spend $25 billion on 127 Russian T-50 fifth-generation stealth fighter jets, a far cheaper and more advanced aircraft. Russia will begin delivering the aircraft within the next 36 months.

“The biggest piece of the Indian contract has disappeared for good, since India does not want the 126 planes,” notes the Boulevard Voltaire report.

Meanwhile, France’s $5.2 billion deal with Egypt for 24 Rafale fighter jets is still going ahead, but issues with cash flow and credit in Cairo have meant that French banks are backing the deal, adding to already heavy public debts. The French economy is currently experiencing slow economic growth and is carrying debts of 98.43 percent of GDP, or $2.2 trillion.

“Though the quality of Egypt’s credit is certainly not Greek, it is clearly not excellent either,” mentions the Boulevard Voltaire report.

Link:



Back to bottling my Grenache

Modernization of French Strategic Oceanic Force: Le Triomphant SSBN Now Fitted with M51 SLBM

On August 4, 2015, the French Navy (Marine Nationale) took over full responsibility and the effective command of ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) Le Triomphant (S616). This transfer of responsibility is an important milestone following the refit period started in May 2013 for maintenance, repairs, modernization and adaptation to the M51 new generation submarine launched ballistic missile (SLMB). Le Triomphant will now start some trials at sea before returning in the operational cycle.
...
Le Triomphant, head of the class commissioned in 1997, returned to the French Navy SSBN base of L'île Longue on April 14, 2015, following 20 months of work at the DCNS shipyard in Brest naval base. Work focused on the upgrade of the missile launch system. The SSBN is switching from the M45 SLBM to the new generation M51 SLBM. The submarine was also fitted with the new SYCOBS tactical combat system (a new combat management system common to Barracuda class SSN and the Le Triomphant class) and an overall more efficient navigation system (SGN-3E). Le Triomphant will also be able to deploy the F21 new generation heavyweight torpedo for self defense once procured by the French Navy. Finally, this periodic downtime was an important step for the Le Triomphant since this was her mid-life refit.

Link:


Back to bottling my Grenache

Has anyone got a picture of all 3 x Mistral class operation together ?

Navyreco?

asif iqbal said:

Has anyone got a picture of all 3 x Mistral class operation together ?

Navyreco?

Click to expand...

As far as I know there is no such picture... maybe all 3 at Toulon naval base, but all 3 underway at sea no.

navyreco said:

As far as I know there is no such picture... maybe all 3 at Toulon naval base, but all 3 underway at sea no.

Click to expand...

I have seen two Mistrals at sea together:



I have also seen a Mistral with the Charles de Gaulle.



You can also find pictures now of both completed Vladivostock LPDs in port:



Really, until they dispose of them, you could say that the French have five Mistral class vessels!