France sent Rafali from the Normandie-Niemen squadron to Lithuania

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November 25 marked the 80th anniversary of the creation of the famous French squadron "Normandy", which fought on the Soviet front against a common enemy - the German Nazis, and was soon transformed into an air regiment. During the war, the pilots of the air regiment made more than 5 sorties, shot down 000 enemy aircraft, and these merits are still remembered and honored in Russia. In France, this seems to be defiantly over, although all previous anniversaries were solemnly celebrated there, and the Normandie-Niemen itself has long and firmly been considered the “most elite” squadron of the French Aerospace Forces.

Now, exactly on November 25, four Rafales (in the latest modification F4.2) from the Normandy-Niemen and Lorraine squadrons (the second most elite in the French Aerospace Forces) took off from their common "home" air base Mont de Marsan and headed to Siauliai, where they will replace four JAS-39 Gripen C of the Hungarian Air Force as part of the "NATO air police" in the Baltic. This was not their first participation in the NATO Baltic mission, but an important nuance appeared:



In 2014, the day after Russian annexation of Crimea and secession of two Ukrainian regions of Donbass, France bolstered NATO's eastern flank by deploying four Rafales to Malbork Air Base in Poland as part of an "air police" mission for the Baltic states. At that time, the Aerospace Forces took care to erase the identification marks of the Rafales sent to Poland. Mainly because some of these aircraft belonged to the Normandie-Niemen fighter squadron, which has enjoyed continued popularity in Russia since the end of World War II.

- writes the French military site Opex360.

Subsequently, the French Aerospace Forces were twice sent for the same purpose to the Baltic Mirage 2000-5 from the generally "ordinary" fighter group Cigognes ("Storks"). Thus, the announcement of the dispatch to Lithuania of four Rafales from the 30th Fighter Wing (which includes the Normandie-Niemen and Lorraine squadrons) is regarded in France as an important "turning point", and unlike their previous mission in Poland, the markings of the fighters were not erased.

In addition, the footage published by the Aerospace Forces and the French General Staff on their Twitter accounts shows the Rafale in Lithuania being equipped with a target designation and infrared imaging unit of the latest TALIOS system, in addition to the MICA EM and MICA IR missiles.

The availability of such equipment for a mission to intercept and identify aircraft near the airspace of the Baltic States may be surprising, even if it carries, among other things, sensors that allow recognition and visual identification of small airborne targets. As a rule, such "gondolas" are used to recognize targets when striking on the ground, and not at all to protect the sky.

the Opex360 reviewer notes.

However, he does not exclude the possibility that this equipment may be associated with the possible participation of aircraft in the next NATO exercises, regularly arranged near the borders with Belarus and the Kaliningrad enclave of Russia.
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  1. lord-palladore-11045
    lord-palladore-11045
    0
    28 November 2022 22: 56
    A friend in need is a friend indeed.
  2. trampoline instructor
    trampoline instructor
    0
    29 November 2022 00: 26
    During the war, the pilots of the air regiment made more than 5 sorties, shot down 000 enemy aircraft,

    Let's take the well-known Soviet air regiment "Normandie-Neman": it fought for two years, the pilots, as you know, are foreigners, all, as one, with a large raid. Already in the first set, the average flight time per person was 857 hours. 98 pilots passed through it, most of them shot down zero aircraft. But 17 out of 98 shot down 200 enemy aircraft, another three dozen "middle peasants" - 73 aircraft. It is easy to guess that most of the losses of the regiment itself were just not among 17, but among the remaining eight dozen.
  3. Pavel Vladimirovich
    Pavel Vladimirovich
    0
    29 November 2022 01: 49
    Everything supplied to the enemy can and must be destroyed.
    It doesn’t matter which country supplies weapons to Zelensky’s troops, it is important to have support.
    What Western governments are guided by when carrying out these arms deliveries should not be of interest to Russia.
    Everything is easier than it seems.
    The friend of my enemy is my enemy!
  4. Dmitry Volkov
    Dmitry Volkov
    0
    29 November 2022 09: 19
    That's it, the French squadron of the SS laughing