The Joan of Arc group returns to Toulon after a five-month mission in America | Sea and Navy

After 148 days at sea, round ten stops and virtually 28,000 nautical miles coated, the Tonnerre and the Guépratte returned to their residence port in Var. The frigate was the primary to cross the Toulon harbor channels within the morning, adopted at midday by the PHA, on board which had launched into the sailors’ households, introduced on board by inland navigation. A fantastic second of sharing your troopers and their family members after many months of separation.

The Guépratte returned to Toulon on 16 July.

The Guépratte returned to Toulon on 16 July.

Le Tonnerre returns to Toulon on July 16.

Le Tonnerre returns to Toulon on July 16.

Le Tonnerre returns to Toulon on July 16.

It was on the nineteenth of February that the Tonnerre and the Guépratte set sail from Toulon for the fifteenth version of the annual Jeanne d’Arc mission, which was launched in 2010 and gave particularly the chance to the maritime advocacy campaigns to the officers who did the scholars earlier than him to observe. exterior the unnamed faculty constructing. The French Navy can be celebrating this yr 160 years of coaching missions at sea, which had been established in 1864 on the Brest Naval Faculty.

On board, there have been greater than 650 sailors and troopers, in addition to the crews of the PHA (200 sailors) and the frigate (150), 162 cadet officers and 35 instructors, in addition to an embarked battle group (GTE) of the Military. Shaped primarily by models of the ninth Armored Marine Brigade, it had 120 troopers and 40 automobiles, together with Griffons, VABs and VBLs. Le Tonnerre had additionally left Toulon with three helicopters, specifically two Gazelles from the Military’s 1st Mild Air Fight Helicopter Regiment (ALAT) and a Dauphin from the 34F fleet of naval plane, in addition to a detachment of the amphibious flotilla consisting of her quick amphibious cruiser and two touchdown craft, all armed with 20 sailors.

For the primary time in ten years, the Joan of Arc group was deployed this yr across the American continent, notably crossing Cape Horn and pushing so far as Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, ie latitudes starting from 56 ° South to 50 ° North. The primary goal of this mission, recalling the French Navy, was to finish the coaching of cadet officers with skilled sailors, in actual circumstances of lengthy and demanding deployment: “By altering theoretical programs and concrete role-playing sooner or later. capabilities as watch commanders, operations watch officer and division commander, the scholar officers have gathered this yr almost 350 hours of programs, 800 sensible work in fight areas (anti-aircraft fight, underwater warfare and the battle of the -against ships), 115 refueling demonstrations at sea, 40 fireplace drills and almost 10,500 cumulative watch hours, day and night time, on the navigation bridge, in equipment or on the working heart so that every officer able to observe their position on a French Navy vessel for his or her first project in a number of weeks.”

Along with being a longtime faculty, these practices even have an vital operational purpose and make it doable to introduce sources in areas of strategic curiosity. That is to enhance operations carried out in these sectors but in addition, if needed, to have the ability to intervene in surprising occasions, for instance operations in opposition to drug trafficking, support missions after a pure catastrophe and even the evacuation of nationals. That is what occurred once more this yr. “When he went off the coast of Africa in early March, Joan of Arc’s group seized almost a ton of cocaine. Just a few days later, because the safety scenario in Haiti has deteriorated, sailors and troopers of the Process Power (TG), had been bolstered with sources from France and the Armed Forces within the Antilles (FAA). led operations to facilitate the voluntary departure of French nationals. To assist defend fishing sources in French and worldwide waters, the Dauphin helicopter from flotilla group 34F on board the Tonnerre actively contributed to maritime surveillance and fisheries police work within the japanese and western a part of America. South and so doing greater than forty research and research. flights throughout the particular financial zones. In complete, greater than 330 hours of flight, day and night time, had been carried out by the three TG helicopters,” the navy defined.

This lastly highlights the third important pillar of this annual train: strengthening ties with the armed forces of allied international locations. « At sea, the Tonnerre and the Guépratte carried out principally amphibious workout routines with six associate navies (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, United States of America), enabling virtually 200 maneuvers on land. On land, the 150 troopers from the Embedded Tactical Group (GTE) and the 2 Gazelle helicopters from the Military Mild Aviation (ALAT) began the PHA, benefiting from the stops to coach with the native navy forces (the touchdown, amphibious, fight in city areas and in closed environments, 36,000 hits on numerous weapons, river fight and water survival).