Blue Water Ops. French style.
Few days ago we posted an interesting footage, filmed with GoPro cameras, showing launches and recoveries from the Catapult Topside Petty Officer point of view.
After reading our article, many readers pointed us to the video below, which shows, more or less, the same kind of operations aboard the 38,000 ton, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle.
The clip lets you observe blue water operations of French Navy Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard, Dassault Rafale M and E‑2C Hawkeye aircraft from the privileged eye of flight deck operators.
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Both the French and American aircraft carriers use the same kind of catapult (even thought the French Navy’s Super Étendards are launched with a wire attached to the bottom of the fuselage instead of a cat shuttle attached to the nose gear). That’s why, in the past French Rafale combat planes have operated from USS Truman and F/A-18E Super Hornets have operated from the U.S. flattop demonstrating interoperability between allied navies.
