ClaudeJ
Posts: 1213
Joined: 3/8/2006 From: Belgique Status: offline
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The EC 4/30 « Vexin », callsign « Mousquetaire » (Musketeer), on BA 188 would be, as mentioned by Philippe Colin in his article "Les mousquetaires de la mer rouge" published in Air Fan magazine issue 187 (June 1994), 10 Mirage F1C-200 strong with 10 permanents pilots (deployed for 2 years) plus at least two young pilots deployed for 45 days to gain some experience in desert conditions. It's the only unit permanently deployed outside France and with a special livery : Their mission is to defend the airspace of the Republic of Djibouti, provide intelligence and secure BA 188 for the aircraft going to the Réunion. Loadouts seen there are CAP (Magic and 530F, #391), rocket (+ECM, #14326) and recce (RP35P, not in the DB). 250 and 400 kg bombs are also mentioned. At Djibouti is also based the ETOM 88 “Larzac” (Escadron de Transport Outre Mer) with an unknown number of C-160. As for the ships, I believe that a couple La Fayette class ships would have been plausible in 1994 given your context (they were delayed quite a few times since 1989 due to a lowered priority) and that wouldn't be the only surprise. I'll get back to you in a few days as I have to do some research to back up my suggestions regarding the Navy as a whole. Have you thought about the Belgian Tripartite-class minehunter by the way? They were deployed right there in 1991 (buffed up with Stinger, manned by Dutch mariners, and Milan missiles, manned by paracommandos).
< Message edited by Jan Masterson -- 6/29/2017 3:07:06 PM >
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