militaryaircraft

French Navy opted to buy the Super Etendard which was no better or worse than the Jaguar M, but yet again it was the chance to buy a solely home grown product against one jointly developed with the British

Taken in 1970, the interesting footage in this post shows the trials of the short-lived Jaguar M aboard the French carrier Clemenceau.

Noteworthy the Jaguar M was the only variant of the type to incorporate a number of modifications. The aircraft had to conduct trials to look at the chance of the Jaguar M being operated by the French Navy from its aircraft carriers. The Jaguar M could perform lightweight strike operations and appear ideally suited to the role with its strong undercarriage, ability to carry a useful weapon load, and also the lower cost and that development were well underway. Politically it was better than purchasing aircraft from the U.S.

As explained by Glenn Ashley says in his book SEPECAT Jaguar In Action, the Jaguar M differed from the S by way of having an extendable twin nose wheel, single main wheels on strengthened undercarriage legs. Also, it was fitted with a 5..5-G capable arrestor hook and catapult fittings under the lower forward fuselage.

The sole Jaguar M, M05/F-ZWRJ, made its maiden flight on Nov. 14, 1969, at Melun-Villaroche with an initial flight lasting about an hour. The aircraft was then flown to Bedford in England for trials on the land-based deck set up there. The trials were a success and so the aircraft proceeded to the next stage, full sea trials.

For the purpose of sea trials, the French Navy had made the carrier Clemenceau available, and on Jul. 8 the Jaguar M made its first true carrier deck landing. For the next couple of days, checks were made to see that no stress damage had been inflicted on the aircraft, and on Jul. 10 the aircraft was prepared for its first catapult launch. This took place without a hitch, and so the trials continued until Jul. 13 by which 12 take off and landings had been completed.

Towards the end of July, the aircraft returned to Bedford to carry out preparatory trials for carrier operations with various stores fitted.

On Oct. 20 the second series of trials began aboard Clemenceau, and it was during these trials that disaster very nearly struck.

The Jaguar failed to catch the arrestor wire and was struggling to gain enough power to lift cleanly from the deck in order to make another approach to the wire. The pilot just managed to keep the aircraft from hitting the water and managed to make a successful landing on the second attempt. The cause of the near-crash was put down to the slow response from the throttle and engines which left the French Naval officials less than impressed.

Another problem that was creeping in was the growing development costs which would mean that only half the planned order would be able to be bought. Even more so when the final cost was measured against purchasing A-4 Skyhawks or A-7 Corsairs from the U.S. Finally, the Navy’s patience snapped and they announced that they would be buying the Super Etendard, against the wishes of the French Government. The Etendard was no better or worse than the Jaguar, but yet again it was the chance to buy a solely homegrown product against one jointly developed with the British.

The prototype Jaguar M was then simply reduced to flying tests with the Navy before it made its last flight on Dec. 12, 1975. It was delivered to Rochefort to become a ground instructional machine.

Photo by BAE Systems

Since naval aviation began in 1911, only less than 360 pilots and 120 NFOs have achieved the milestone of 1,000 traps. Its rarer that two people completes their 1000th trap on the same flight

Taken on Jan. 18, 2018, the main image of this article shows Capt. Tom Barber, Commander, Carrier Air Wing 2 (CVW-2) and Commander Jason Hutcherson, CO (commanding officer) of VFA-2, aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) completing their 1,000th trap on a carrier on a “Bounty Hunters” F/A-18F.

As reported by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Rebecca Sunderland in the article Carl Vinson Aviators Complete 1000th Trap, since naval aviation began in 1911, only less than 360 pilots and 120 NFOs have achieved the milestone of 1,000 traps. It’s rarer that two people accomplish this on the same flight.

“I hope that they recognize that getting 1,000 traps isn’t just me,” said Hutcherson, a naval flight officer (NFO). “It’s the ship, it’s the maintainers, and it’s all the supporters that we have as aviators.”

After Hutcherson joined the elite group of NFOs, he said he understood the honor wasn’t earned alone.

“It was great to see everybody from my squadron and the air wing up on the flight deck,” said Hutcherson. “I was a department head of VFA-2 a couple of years ago and then to come back as the XO (executive officer), and now as CO, and to get 1,000 traps with the same squadron, it’s been pretty rewarding.”

Barber said he was honored to complete the historic flight with Hutcherson and thanked the squadron and Hutcherson for allowing him to fly their aircraft named “Bullet 100.”

“It was very special that two people were able to fly and reach this milestone together,” said Barber. “This would not have been possible if it wasn’t for all the hard work of the Sailors of Carrier Air Wing 2 and USS Carl Vinson. Thank you.”

For many who witnessed the 1,000th trap, the feat meant more than just an impressive number.

“I think it’s reassuring to know that we are being led with experience,” said Lt. John Cushing, a pilot with VFA-2. “Especially moving forward into this deployment, it helps to know the guys leading the way have literally done it a thousand times before.”

The Carl Vinson Strike Group is currently on a regularly scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific. The strike group includes Carl Vinson, CVW 2, guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), and guided-missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) from Destroyer Squadron 1.

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Eleanor D. Vara and Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Ronald A. Dallatorre / U.S. Navy

French Navy Dassault Rafale M fighters and Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye AEW&C planes will train first with U.S. Navy aircraft at NAS Oceana

USNI News has learned from French officials that a contingent of French sailors and naval aviators will deploy aboard the American carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) from April to May this year.

The deployment will occur just before France’s aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle (R91) is expected to complete a major maintenance period which started in 2015. Even if the aircrews will do carrier qualifications aboard Bush, Capt. Jean-Emmanuel Roux de Luze, French Naval Attaché to the U.S. said the aim of the attachment is beyond just carrier qualifications and cross-deck operations.

“We want to demonstrate our ability to integrate with U.S. military services,” Roux de Luze said. “We want to show we do maintenance, demonstrate we can load weapons.”

French Navy Dassault Rafale M fighters and Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) planes will train first with U.S. Navy aircraft at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, in Virginia Beach. French sailors will work with their U.S. counterparts maintaining the aircraft, then the French forces will embark aboard Bush and operate as part of the air wing, Rouz de Luze explained.

He said that this kind of joint operation is aimed to demonstrate how the services can work together. “With the U.S. Navy, the technology used, procedures, communications equipment are all basically the same,” Rouz de Luze pointed out.

“Today we are 95 percent interoperable,” he explained. “Our concerns in our navy is in 10 years, in 15 years will we be able to work like that.”

“Due to its size and power, the US Navy does not really need us and not really need the help of other navies,” Rouz de Luze added.

But even though the U.S. Navy can go alone politically, Rouz de Luze said the U.S. needs to be part of a coalition or NATO operation because doing so gives legitimacy to military action.

France has been an active contributor to the anti-ISIS coalition airstrikes via the country military’s Opération Chammal since 2014.

Photo by MC2 Tyler Caswell / U.S. Navy