Free Republic

Photos via Marine Nationale France’s only aircraft carrier, the nuclear powered Charles De Gaulle, returned to its home port in Toulon, France yesterday. Before its arrival, the Dassault Super Étendard, an aircraft that has spent nearly 40 years fighting France’s wars abroad, took its final catapult launch off an aircraft carrier. By this July the humble jet will be fully retired from Marine Nationale service. The sleek yet subsonic attack jet has stayed relevant long after anyone would have imagined it could. The aircraft has always had clear limitations— speed, payload and maneuverability being just a few—but it has received...

More than three decades ago, the France’s Super Etendards flew their first combat missions against Syrian artillery in Lebanon. Now, France is sending eight Super Etendard Mordernises – a.k.a. SEMs – back to the Middle East for what may be their final fight. On Nov. 18, the French Ministry of Defense formally announced that the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its aviation group were heading toward the Eastern Mediterranean. Once in position, the flattop’s aging Super Etendards – along with the more modern Rafale Ms – will attack Islamic State in Syria and possibly Iraq. After more than 40...

The possible transfer to Argentina of a refurbished model of the French manufactured fighter-bomber Super Etendard, which had an outstanding performance during the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict, is under consideration by the French Ministry of Defence, reveals the French publication, Mer & Marine Argentines part of the sophisticated avionics of the Super Etendard Modernized (SEM) model would take place in 2015 when the French navy will de decommissioning their air fleet to be replaced by the new Rafale. However in the event of the operation going ahead it will depend on the availability of SEMs at the moment the French...

Falklands’ war tested modernized Super Etendard in Argentine Navy’s agenda The possible transfer to Argentina of a refurbished model of the French manufactured fighter-bomber Super Etendard, which had an outstanding performance during the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict, is under consideration by the French Ministry of Defence, reveals the French publication, Mer & Marine. The operation which includes giving the Argentines part of the sophisticated avionics of the Super Etendard Modernized (SEM) model would take place in 2015 when the French navy will de decommissioning their air fleet to be replaced by the new Rafale. However in the event of the...