French Navy Joins International Air Day

Rafale multirole fighters from the French Navy will represent the sharp end of ‘Carrier Aviation’ at RNAS Yeovilton International Air Day on 26 July.

Two Rafale Ms will be part of the event’s static display, joined by a Falcon 10 transport and communications aircraft in the French Navy’s only UK airshow appearance of this year so far confirmed.

Following the naming ceremony for the Royal Navy’s first Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, which takes place on 4 July, Air Day 2014 has taken ‘Carrier Aviation’ as this year’s theme.

Celebrating the triumphs of airborne assets deployed at sea since aviation’s earliest days, Air Day will host a large gathering of carrier-launched aircraft types.

They include the Dassault Rafale M which has been in French Navy service since 2000. Equipped with a hardened airframe and toughened undercarriage, it is fast, extremely agile and able to simultaneously carry out air supremacy, interdiction and reconnaissance missions.

The Rafale M is a definitive modern-day naval multirole combat aircraft.

The Dassault Falcon 10MER is based on the 1970s-era Falcon 10 business jet. Operational taskings for this aircraft, seven of which joined the French Navy between 1973 and 1983, include training, electronic countermeasures, communications and transport.

Other foreign air arms’ involvement in Air Day 2014 includes Belgium’s, Denmark’s and Jordan’s national display teams, the Belgian Air Component F-16 Solo Display and the Swiss Air Force F/A-18C Hornet Solo Display.

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Press Release, July 03, 2014; Image: UK Navy