Recent French-Russian squadron exchange...

[recceguy]

Simply great. Enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XroBpj44rqU

XroBpj44rqU

They really seem to be good friends. Another Russian connection ?

[Trim Stab]

Ironic to hear the French (who invented metric system) mission commander saying that one of the challenges of working together was that the Russian airforce used metres and kmh!

[Rhino power]

Recent? It was nearly 4 years ago!

It is a nice vid clip though, with some good footage of the now retired Mirage F.1, probably the most aesthetically pleasing Mirage alongside the 2000... :ok:

-RP

[Geezers of Nazareth]

There was a squadron exchange (?) in the 1980s with a Russian unit ... a number of MiG-23s came to Riems for about a week. I seem to remember reading that all the media were kept well away from the base, and only a small series of official photos were released to the media.

I bet the MiGs had an 'interesting' flight across Germany to Riems.

[Haraka]

Before that c.1971 IIRC there was a MiG 21 exchange to Riems.

[VMD+12]

The exchange/visit is almost certainly based on the historical link of the Normandie-Niemen Squadron when shortly after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, De Gaulle sent a group of Free French pilots to Russia to fly with the Russians against the Luftwaffe. A very interesting read here: The French-Russian Connection | Military Aviation | Air & Space Magazine (http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/the-french-russian-connection-8043795/)