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The Chief of the Air Staff visits the French Air Force
The Chief of the Air Staff visits the French Air Force - Friday 27 April 2007
The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy visited the French Air Force base at St Dizier this week and had the opportunity to fly in a Rafale F2 with the Officer Commanding from 17 Squadron. 17 Squadron is the first French Air Force Squadron to incorporate an Operational Evaluation Unit (OEU) and a Operational Conversion Unit (OCU)
The sortie; a medium level close air support mission which included Terrain Following Radar (TFR), consisted of 2 x Rafale F2; which has a full air-to-ground attack capability, against 2 x Mirage 2000 RDI multirole fighter aircraft. Air chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy was impressed with the Rafale F2 performance and the intuitive cockpit layout, and greatly impressed with the sensor fusion. The Rafale F2 aircraft at present are deployed in Afghanistan by the French Air Force and French Navy.
The visit proved to be very successful and has opened the way for closer liaisons between the Typhoon OEU/OCU and 17 Squadron French Air Force in the future.
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