2018 06 24 Aerotorshow Valence

On Sunday, June 24th, La Fête aérienne de Valence-Chabeuil was held at the airport in the commune of Chabeuil, just east of Valence, Department of Drôme, France. Valence-Chabeuil airport is home to the GAMSTAT (Groupement AéroMobilité de la Section Technique de l'Armée de Terre). The mission of GAMSTAT is testing and development of new helicopter types and weapon systems for the introduction into operational service as well as the definition of future needs. Therefore, the unit has a variable, mixed fleet of the various helicopter types of the French Army. The first edition of this bi-annual air festival took place in 1999, making this year’s event the tenth edition.
The Aviation Légère de l'Armée de Terre (ALAT - French Army Light Aviation) presented itself by means of a dynamic OPEX-representation “MALI”. Based on the operations in Mali, the scenario of this tactical demonstration consisted of a light military reconnaissance vehicle having been struck by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) while on patrol, that is subsequently being attacked by rebels with a Technical (improvised fighting vehicle).
Responding to the distress call, a Pilatus PC-6 Porter scouts the concerning area and having located the struck reconnaissance vehicle, calls in an EC-665 Tigre helicopter to provide Helicopter Fire Support.
Using a SA330 Puma, a special forces team is flown in to neutralize the rebel threat, fast-roping from the helicopter, and proceed to secure a so-called sling zone for an AS532 Cougar to deliver a special forces vehicle.
Then the injured personnel are evacuated by the PC-6 Porter, supported by armed escort provided by the EC-665 Tigre and a SA342 Gazelle helicopter. Finally, the deployed special forces are extracted by the SA330 Puma using the sling-load technique.
Besides participating in the OPEX demo, the EC-665 Tigre performed its own solo demonstration. Also, a pair of Tigre helicopters flew an aerobatic display as the Patrouille de Tigre.
The Armée de l'Air (AdlA - French Air Force) presented itself with the Rafale Solo Display and the Patrouille de France.
Additionally, the flying display program included warbirds, the Flying Bulls, the Belgian A109 Solo Demo Team, and the “Orlik” formation display team of the Polish air force.
The static display line-up of the local helicopters was expanded with a few foreign guests, consisting of a Belgian Alpha Jet E, German CH-53G and EC-135, a Czech Mi-171Sh, and a Danish SH-60R Seahawk.






























2017 06 08 Tigermeet

French Naval base Landivisiau was host of the 2017 edition of the NATO Tiger meet. From 5 till 16 June 2017, 11th Flottille -operating the Rafale jet fighter- organized this exercise for NATO squadrons with a tiger in their emblem. Goal of the meet is to train pilots during complex missions to establish interoperability between the participating nations. 

This year, the meet was organized for the 53rd time. The NATO Tiger Association was established in 1961. Its role is to promote solidarity between NATO countries. That is why socializing is also an important ingredient of the Tiger meet. Usually the units try to impress the other tiger units with a plane painted in an exotic tiger scheme. Although budget cuts make it harder to realize this custom nowadays, some units presented this year aircraft in larger or smaller tiger outfits. During the two-week time frame of the meet, 800 missions were flown, with a total of about 1.200 flying hours.

Participants
French Navy  Flotille 11F  Rafale M 
Swiss Air Force  Staffel 11  F/A-18C/D Hornet
Austrian Air Force  1 JTS  Saab 105Öe
Italian Air Force  XII Gruppo  EF2000 Typhoon
Italian Air Force  21° Gruppo  AB-212ICO
French Air Force  ECE 01/30  Rafale C/B
French Air Force  EC 3/30  Rafale C/B
Belgian Air Force  31 Squadron  F-16AM/BM 
Czech Air Force  211 TL  JAS-39C/D Gripen
Dutch Air Force  313 Squadron  F-16AM/BM 
Royal Air Force  230 Squadron  Puma HC Mk2
Royal Navy  814 Squadron  Merlin HM. MK2
French Army  EHRA 3  SA 342 M Gazelle
NATO  1st Squadron  E-3A Sentry, flying from MOB

External Participants
French Navy  Flottille 4F  E-2CHawkeye 
French Army  5 RHC  EC665 Tigre HAP
Royal Navy  849 Squadron  Sea King ASaC Mk7 

Observers 
Polish Air Force  6 ELT   
Greece Air Force  335 Mira    

Visitors
Royal Norwegian Air Force  338 Skv  F-16AM/BM 
German Air Force  TaktLwG 51  Tornado ECR & IDS
German Air Force  TaktLwG 74  EF2000 Typhoon
Czech Air Force  221 LtBVr  Mil Mi-24 Hind

Tiger Trophy Winners
Silver Tiger Trophy 31 Squadron Belgian Air Force
Best Flying Unit 31 Squadron Belgian Air Force
Best Painted Tiger Aircraft Flottille 11F French Navy
Best Looking Uniform 31 Squadron Belgian Air Force
Tiger Games ECE 01/30 French Air Force
Best Skit 230 Squadron Royal Air Force