French Rafale omnirole fighter jet operates from U.S. aircraft carrier in the Arabian Gulf

March 6, 2015 Aircraft Carriers, Military Aviation
David Cenciotti

Every now and then, French Navy warplanes operate from U.S. flattops.

The cooperation between the Marine Nationale (French Navy) and the U.S. Navy is not limited to the recent joint exercise during which a French nuclear-powered submarine scored a simulated carrier kill on USS Theodore Roosevelt and part of its escorting Strike Group.

The images in this post show a Rafale Marine aircraft belonging to the 11F embarked aboard the French navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91) operate aboard the U.S. Navy nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70).

USS Carl Vinson is deployed along with its Carrier Strike Group to support air strikes on ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

This is not the first time French aircraft operate from a U.S. aircraft carrier: in January 2014, two French Navy Rafales, landed and were later launched from USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) during carrier qualification integration.

Operation Inherent Resolve

Image credit: U.S. Navy

 

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

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5 Comments

    • You mean the OTHER right wheel, namely the left one…As the right right wheel roll off the deck, if the tail did not strike, it had to be awfully close…

  2. The new Ford Carriers will be even more so. The new Electric Launch System won’t have limited weight limits meaning lighter aircraft will be able to be launched (meaning drones probably), where planes have to meet a minimum weight on the steam catapults.

  3. Yes, what a good point. We here in the U.S. still foolishly give support to Saudi Arabia. That country financially backs all of these fanatical sunni terror/extremist groups. ISIS, AQ, AQI, etc… are all radical sunni groups. And 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were from our dear buddy Saudi Arabia-

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