Since leaving Toulon on January 22, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has been very busy in the Mediterranean and then in the North Atlantic, as we already mentioned in our lines. Between anti-terrorist operations, diplomatic demonstration maneuvers and other interallied exercises, the French Carrier Strike Group (GAN) is also used to test and validate new tactical capabilities. This was notably the case on March 17 when the nuclear attack submarine (ANS) participating in the usual Charles de Gaulle escort was used to designate a (simulated) surface target for the benefit of hunters Rafale M of the aircraft carrier, as part of a “linkex” exercise.
Technically, however, this target designation was not done directly between the SSN and the Rafale, but transited by an E-2C Hawkeye radar plane which then acted as command aircraft for the fighters. This “linkex” exercise nevertheless opens the way to new collaborative naval monitoring capabilities which should expand considerably with the arrival of two new assets for the French Navy: the new generation ANS Barracuda type and le Rafale M to F4 standard, which we have both covered in detail in dedicated articles.
75% of this article remains to read,
Subscribe to access it!
The Classic subscriptions provide access to
articles in their full version, and without advertising,
from 6,90 €.
Newsletter subscription
Register for the Meta-Defense Newsletter to receive the
latest fashion articles daily or weekly