[Old Sarge]

the Charles de Gaulle will deploy with a unusually large air wing consisting of 26 fighters (18 Rafale M and 8 Super-Etendard Modernis). This is above the official limit of 24 fighters and this would be a first in the French carrier history for an operational mission.

The Etendards are ancient platforms - the Argies were flying them in the Falklands with some success against the Royal Navy.

I'd be curious to see what upgrades they've done to the aircraft...

[tanknetter]

Big improvement to the SEMs has been PGM capability. Laser pods for self-designation. I don’t know whether they can deploy GPS guided weapony, most of the time they’re seen carrying GBU-12 class bombs.

The SEMs are good light attack bomb trucks. But they’re close to trapping out at this point.