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| A Swedish AF Gripen and a French AF Mirage F1CR on patrol over France last March. The two airplanes belong to two very distinct generations and are 25 years apart in their conception © C. Amboise/SIRPA-Air |
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First ever aircraft squadron exchange
between Sweden and France
By Patrick ‘Bibi’ Bigel
in Rheims, France
Laird of the French Air Force tactical reconnaissance squadrons flying Mirage F1CRs, Base Aérienne 112 in Rheims hosted for the first time ever, from last March 21 to 30, a flight of six Royal Swedish Air Force JAS-39 Gripen multirole fifth generation fighters from Ronneby AB headed by Major "Andy" Segerby.
The six aircraft (including a two-seater) and their 20 pilots originating from Ronneby-Kallinge’s Flygflottilj F 17 in the extreme south of Sweden, a region facing the German Baltic coast, were the hosts of Escadron de Reconnaissance ER 1/33 « Belfort » commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Cyrille Duvivier.
The week-long squadron exchange provided the two European countries’ pilots with a unique opportunity to work closely together during practice recce sorties conducted at various altitudes over the northern part of France and inside the trinational Polygone de Guerre Electronique (French-German-US EW range) located across the Frenco-German border in the Rhine area. The encounter between the old Mirage F1CR with its ultramodern Thales Presto digital photo pod and the state of the art Gripen with its minimal recce gear came as a surprising and very fruitfull experience for both nations. While flying over France F1CR in mixed formation with the Mirages, the Gripen came under repeated training attacks of Cambrai-based Mirage 2000C interceptors and Rafale C/F2 fighter-bombers from Saint Dizier. French and Swedish MFFO (Mixed Forces Fighting Operations) witnessed three ‘pushes’ a day, with NATO style briefings and debriefings coming as a bonus for the JAS-39 pilots. All in all, this first squadron exchange ever organised between the Swedes and the French was extremely dense and full of good experience.
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| A Royal Swedish AF JAS-39 Gripen from Ronneby AB taxiing at Rheims AB during the Flygvapen's first squadron exchange with the French AF © P. Bigel |
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During their stay in the Champagne region of France, the Swedish
Grippen crew were given the opportunity to attend in flight a series of
live air-to-air Mirage F1CR refuellings with French Boeing C-135FR
Stratotankers, something the Swedish Air Force aviators are not at all
familiar with. Indeed, although the Gripen is equipped with a
retractable fuel probe, the Swedish pilots are not yet cleared to
top-off in flight as the Flygvapen does not have any tankers nor indulge in kerosene tranferts in the sky.
Having
had until recently and during the whole XXth century a long policy of
total neutrality, Sweden is gradually shifting to more participation in
peace making operations led under the star spangled blue flag of the
EU. This coming autumn, from September 29 to October 5, the two air
forces will get together again at Kallax AB in Sweden for the exercise
Nordic Air Meet conducted under the auspices of the Partnership for
Peace. [Rheims – 03-30-2007]
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| A Swedish AF pilot at the end of a MFFO conducted from Rheims AB with the Mirage F1CRs of EC 1/33 "Belfort". It is to be noticed that the Gripen's cockpit opens the other way round than most of the West's fighter planes © P. Bigel |
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