SAILORS AT LOW TIDE
By the end of April 2017, the French Navy’s Flottille 23F maintained a semi-permanent
Atlantique 2 detachment at Niamey served by a crew of 16, including an airborne
controller and a handful of ground mechanics. Approximately 120 hours of ying were
planned per month, or the equivalent to an eight-hour ight every other day. For these
surveillance missions, the aircraft permanently carry two GBU-12 Paveway II bombs in
the internal weapons bay, with the ability to attack pop-up targets.Flying one drone at a time for a long
period is relatively easy for an experienced
pilot, but ying two simultaneously during
large-scale operations is far trickier.
Sometimes the need to multi-task is
unavoidable, especially if there is a
requirement to track two targets
simultaneously or cover a wide area and
hcompensate for the narrow eld of view
of the primary sensor.
This situation is typical of French Air
Force limitations in the Sahel. It’s a clear
illustration of how the French armed
forces here have to work with the tools in
their grasp, while meeting a demanding
operational requirement.Right top to
bottom: An
Atlantique 2
taxies out for
a surveillance
mission.
Maintainers load
GBU-12s into
the Atlantique’s
internal bomb
bay. These give
the patrol aircraft
a useful capability
against targets of
opportunity.http://www.combataircraft.net // September 2018 89
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