A French Mirage 2000 pilot in a cool selfie as a U.S. F-22 stealth fighter forms up on his wing during a joint exercise.
The image (a frame of GoPro video) was probably taken during the deployment at Al Dhafra airbase, in the UAE, of U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors.
According to the French pilots, aerial combat with the Raptor is extremely important, regardless of the outcome of the dogfight: training with the F-22 gives French Mirage 2000 the possibility to learn to fight against a superior fighter: “Sometimes a battle begins even before meeting the adversary, when it is necessary to convince themselves that the opponent is not so terrible, and despite the gap of performance, the technological chasm, one is able to get the game.”
Image credit: Groupe de Chasse 1/2 Cigognes
