The choice of franceinfo is interested this week in the consequences of the war in Ukraine, started almost a year ago. In this third part, franceinfo is interested in the aircraft carrier “Charles-de-Gaulle”. This French warship has clearly changed its way of reacting and acting according to the conflict in Ukraine.
Somewhere in the Red Sea, day or night, it’s a precise ballet. Daily, between 20 and 30 Rafale are catapulted, going from 0 to 200 km / h in three seconds from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. “It feels like flying a rocket, smiled Commander Nicolas. But in fact, we are completely normal men.” Khaki suit, more than 2,000 flight hours on the clock, Captain Nicolas already has ten years of experience on the tricolor warship. “If you want to know a little more, I have a war call-sign: Gillette.” Direction Eastern Europe for “Gillette”, alias Commander Nicolas. On the program, the flight over Romania to the borders of Ukraine, as part of the Air Shielding mission, carried out in cooperation with NATO allied countries. “We are obviously not at war with Russia, but we know that the Russian soldiers that we meet on planes, that we meet on boats, have been at war since February 24. It is not the same mental pattern.
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Since February 24, 2022 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, explains Commander Nicolas, the pressure on board the Rafales has not been the same. “I don’t want to say that we are afraid, not at all. But when we entrust you with a Rafale which is worth millions of euros, we entrust you with rules of engagement, rules of behavior. In the gestures that we do, in the interceptions we make, we are very professional to avoid any misunderstandings. It’s a pressure that we have to learn to manage, that’s essentially what has changed since February 24.” The mistake is the spark that would ignite the powder. This is what forces French drivers to constantly flirt with danger, to play with their limits.
“Death, we very rarely think about it and in fact, we try to escape it a little every day. Let’s say that if we dance, we are the ones who set the pace.”
Commander Nicolas, Rafale pilotat franceinfo
So, if the Rafale leave well loaded with missiles, they only carry out, to date, surveillance missions on the eastern flank of Europe, a kind of air police. France shows the muscles without provoking anyone. “It’s the spirit”, confirms Captain Vincent, the commander of the on-board air group. “Whereas, post February 24, things were very new, with a lot of tension and apprehension, now we have a little perspective and serenity in the flights we perform. There is a kind of hermetic border which is not crossed by either one or the other. We remain in the airspace of NATO countries. We see the Russians from a distance. It’s the same on the Russian side.”
“There is clearly a desire not to increase the level of tensions systematically.”
Captain Vincentat franceinfo
If the Charles de Gaulle is a mobile air base known for propelling Rafales, the flight deck also hosts a strange plane: thee Hawkeye, literally Hawkeye. This 25 meter wingspan aircraft is at the heart of intelligence operations.
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The surveillance device is lined with sensors and radars and is surmounted by a huge dome, a “rotodome”. “He has a kind of big radar above the cell, explains Lieutenant Commander Hassan. When you put a Hawkeye over France, you see beyond the borders.” Lieutenant Commander Hassan provides the guided tour. “It’s not like a civilian plane, we nhas no padding. VSIt’s really a device dedicated to the mission, that’s what gives it its charm. People like to have old vintage cars, they are not necessarily the most comfortable or the fastest, but they are the ones that have the most charm. This plane, it has a crazy charm by this rather old side. You can see it, by the way: in fact, we are sitting on our parachutes.”
This jewel of technology was already used by the Americans during the Cold War and it is more than ever brought up to date. “It’s an aircraft that is extremely useful for the armed forces. We have tactical warning, we are able to detect far away. We are able to detect electromagnetic activity and that gives the forces an autonomous situational assessment. French armies.
“With flights to Romania or Bulgaria, we are able to have information on the competitors.”
Lieutenant Commander Hassanat franceinfo
The information collected by the Hawkeyes is processed in flight and on board the Charles de Gaulle. With, for a year, an implacable observation: the French aircraft carrier is glued very closely, sometimes a little too much, by Russian ships and planes. This is what Captain Pierre observes. He directs the operational center. “The objective is to take the threat as it is and to have the most graduated and measured reaction. It is out of the question to be flown over by aircraft which are not controlled, which are not not ‘friends’, with whom you don’t work. Confrontation is possible. We know that aggression is possible. That’s why we have raised our level of vigilance.”
Vigilance today is at all times. These new threats have permanently changed the course of the life of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaullestill considered a flagship of the French army.