Exocet missile, and the ability to use the
ASMP-A nuclear missile. The Rafale M was
rst delivered to the French Navy in 2002
and a total of 42 are in service.Preparation
The rst six Rafales arrived at NAS Oceana
in Virginia Beach on April 5, beginning
the initial phase of the deployment. They
followed a route from Landivisiau to
the Azores, making a stop there before
continuing directly to Oceana. Throughout
the transit, they were supported by three
French Air Force Boeing C-135FR tankers.
The E-2C Hawkeye, lacking air-to-air
refueling capability, followed a di erent
route with stops in Scotland, Iceland,
Greenland, and Canada before arriving
at NAS Norfolk, just down the road
from Oceana.As recently as 2016, the USS Dwight
D. Eisenhower and the Charles de Gaulle
were serving alongside each other in the
Mediterranean, conducting joint strike
missions in Syria, so the two air arms are
no strangers. The French also carried
out a similar but smaller deployment
on a US carrier in 2008 when six Rafales
embarked on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.Pilots and the air
boss had to bear in
mind the different speeds at
which the Rafale fl ies in the
landing pattern
CAPT Jim McCall, commander of the
carrier air group (CAG) of CVW-8 (Carrier
Air Wing 8) talked about the preparation
at the start of the exercise: ‘Certainly the
French experience carrying out carrier
quali cations in the US 10 years ago
pays some dividends. They have some
long-standing lessons learned from that.
They were able to impart that during the
planning process with the Bush, as well
as with CVW-8.
‘Our LSOs spent time in France ‘waving’
their pilots for a few days. Similarly,
all the operations at Fentress [Naval
Auxiliary Landing Field] have integrated
their and our LSOs. We hosted a one-day
summit at Oceana where everyone got
together; all their pilots went through
lectures talking about what di erences
they might see. This is more aboutAbove left to
right: A VFA-87
F/A-18E about
to ‘trap’, with
the LSOs in the
background.
A VFA-213
‘Blacklions’
crew fi res up
an F/A-18F for a
mission during
the exercise.
Left: CAPT Jim
McCall, CAG of
CVW-8.
This image: A
Rafale M comes
in over the deck
of the USS Bush
during carrier
qualifi cations.68 August 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
OPS REPORT // US/FRENCH NAVY CARRIER TRAINING
66-72 Rafales on Bush C.indd 68 21/06/2018 13:54