The Navy’s eyes in the sky hopped across the Channel to help their French counterparts prepare for action with Europe’s most powerful surface ship.
Two ‘bagger’ Sea King joined the air group of the Charles de Gaulle plus Swiss F/A18 Hornets for a week-long air defence exercise in and off Brittany.
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Two Swiss F/A18 Hornets are lined up on the runway at Landivisiau while the two baggers of 849 NAS and a French Hawkeye are parked on the standings. Pictures: Marine Nationale and Wombat WooldridgeTHE Navy’s eyes in the sky hopped across the Channel to help their French counterparts prepare for action with Europe’s most powerful surface ship.Two ‘bagger’ Sea Kings from 849 Naval Air Squadron at Culdrose decamped 120 miles to Brittany where the French Navy’s Carrier Air Group was working up ahead of joining France’s flagship Charles de Gaulle.The French had organised a week-long air defence exercise to give the four squadrons which give their carrier its aerial punch – and invited the British and Swiss to take part.The Swiss obliged with a squadron of F/A18 Hornets. The British obliged with the two Airborne Surveillance and Control Sea Kings which have proven so useful over land and sea from Iraq, through Afghanistan (where they’re still deployed) to Libya over the past decade.![]()
One of the Baggers comes in to land at the French air stationIn terms of air defence, les sacs (we couldn’t find an exact French translation for bagger) provide early warning for a Royal Navy task force of encroaching enemy aircraft – a role performed on the Charles de Gaulle by the E2C Hawkeye, a propeller-driven fixed wing aircraft.It’s joined on the deck of the French porte-avions by two squadrons of Rafale fighters, and one of Super Étendard.The Sea Kings and Charles de Gaulle worked together as recently as last autumn on exercises in the Med, so the latest get together at the French Naval Air Station in Landivisiau in Brittany, two dozen miles east of Brest, helped cement long-standing Anglo-French naval relations.![]()
The weather in Brittany can be every bit as grim as on the Lizard peninsula…Among the highlights of the week, which saw the hosts provide the bagger detachment with all the logistical support they could hope for, were fighter control training missions for the de Gaulle jets on their way to attack naval surface vessels from France and the UK.The Sea Kings notched up more than 40 hours flying, completing 16 missions.“We achieved a significant amount on so many levels,” said Lt Cdr Jim Hall, 849’s senior observer. As well as an important training package for his crews, it helped three rookie aircrew complete their training and offered 849 the chance to renew ties with the Hawkeye squadron, with whom they’re affiliated.Culdrose’s Commanding Officer Capt Mark Garratt also popped over the Channel to observe some of the exercise – and was impressed. “We can learn a great deal from each other,” he said. “This exercise has proved the mutual benefit to be gained from working closely together in challenging operational scenarios.”
