AirForces Monthly – June 2018

stablished in August 1977, the 3e

Régiment d’Hélicoptères de Combat

(3e RHC, 3rd Combat Helicopter

Regiment) of the Aviation Légère de l’Armée

de Terre (ALAT, French Army Aviation) today

flies SA330B Puma and SA342M1/Ma Gazelle

helicopters from Étain-Rouvres air base.

The 1,235-acre (500-hectare) airfield,

close to the historic city of Verdun on

the Lorraine Plateau, is formally named

Base Lieutenant Étienne Mantoux.

Around 800 people and 50 helicopters

constitute the 3e RHC, which has three

battalions, all sharing the same basic mission

• supporting troops on the ground.
  Alongside the Puma and Gazelle battalions,
  the third unit operates in the support role. If
  required, all three work together to maximise
  capability. Typically, the Gazelle will fly close

escort missions for the Puma transports,

which bring troops to the landing zone.

“Once we go abroad – especially when

we’re in Mali – we’ll be working with all

the ground forces in theatre. That’s our

job,” explained Lieutenant Colonel AZ

(name withheld for security reasons),

commander of the Puma battalion.

“We’re just here in Étain for training, training,

training. The job here is to precisely drill

all our procedures during peacetime.”

The air base offers plenty of local opportunities

for live-fire training, the helicopters working

together with ground troops from other units,

and there are several gunnery ranges in

the vicinity, including Suippes (see October

2017, p68-70) and Mailly, which can be

used day and night. Around 30% of training

missions are flown in the hours of darkness.

Aiming higherAiming higherAiming higher

Operating under

the motto ‘Semper

ad alta’ – ‘A lways

higher’ – the

French Army’s

3rd Combat

Helicopter

Regiment has

its home in the

far northeast of

France. But as

Oliver Jonischkeit

discovers, half its

crews are normally

deployed on

missions around

the globe.

72 // JUNE 2018 #363 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

ALAT 3rd Combat Helicopter Regiment

E

Above: A Puma crew consists of four personnel:

fl ight chief, pilot, fl ight engineer and loadmaster.

Below: The two helicopter types of the 3e RHC

are both now ‘long in the tooth’ but continue

to provide good service for French operations

overseas. The regiment is due to replace its

Puma and Gazelle fl eets around 2025 and 2030

respectively. All photos Oliver Jonischkeit unless stated

Inset: James Lawrence

Aiming higherAiming higher

under

Aiming higher

‘Semper

Aiming higher

‘Semper

Aiming higher

‘A lways

the

Helicopter

has

the

northeastof

Butas

Jonischkeit