French Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle back at sea for Naval Aviation pilots qualification

: Posted On Monday, 06 February 2012 12:45

Naval Forces News - France

French Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle back at sea for Naval Aviation pilots qualification

Sunday, February 5 2012, an air group consisting of Rafales and Hawkeye landed on the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle off Toulon to train and qualify French Naval Aviation pilots switching from Super Etandard Modernisé (SEM) to the new Rafale M.

The French carrier took to the sea on February 2nd. Following three days of sea trials, air operations that will be held on board throughout the week will allow for the transformation of SEM pilots on Rafale M as well as Hawkeye crews qualifications.

Rafale M and Hawkeye pilots conduct carrier qualification and transformation off Toulon Naval Base on 05/02/2012
(All pictures: French Navy/Marine Nationale)

After nine months of intense operations in Indian Ocean and off Libya between October 2010 and August 2011, the r Charles de Gaulle CVN had entered a phase of technical and human regeneration to allow the vessel and its crew to find regain potential for 2012.

The French carrier went back to sea last December to ensure the good performance of maintenance operations that were performed on board following the long period of operational deployement.