For the air force, on 14 July, it is a true raid, missiles, and bombs less. The designated objective, then, is the rostrum place de la Concorde. The altitude and the axis of attack are strictly imposed. The environment is hostile, requiring a timing and holding patterns waiting to be very precise in the middle of a heaven where there is, seemingly in every direction, nearly a hundred aircraft. Only difference with a conflict, when the arrival on the target, one does not press the red button of the mop handle…
The comparison with a tactical mission does not stop there. A raid always includes one or more messages to the attention of the belligerents. On the occasion of the 14 July parade, the political power, in the absence this year of a large parade ground, puts in the value of units that have recently distinguished themselves as caregivers and training in Resilience. It will present an A400M Atlas, two Casa CN-235, a A330 MRTT, a Falcon and an A400 Atlas (German Air Force). On the side of the helicopters of the light aviation of the army, the training Resilience joint will include a Caracal, an EC135 and two H145. The module “Resilience” will follow with four Crocodile and a Puma. These aircraft participated in the medical evacuations of sick of Covid. Another tribute, this made general de Gaulle (and his decisions in the aviation field), explains the presence of two Typhoon aircraft of the Royal Air Force. The current conflicts are not forgotten. The recent “special operations” in the Sahel have implemented fighter and transport aircraft of the air force, the patrol aircraft of the navy and helicopters to the army. They are gathered at the top of the Champs-Élysées !
Read also July 14 : the pinching in the heart of the armed
As of the month of February, the office of the air force responsible for the parade begins to assess the means available at the national festival. They are finalized when the theme or themes selected. The scenarios are studied within the units concerned before a rehearsal, at the end of June, above the base of Orléans-Bricy to validate the device. A final rehearsal took place on 9 July at the top of Paris, it brought together only had leaders training in order to properly identify the axis of the parade and the different areas to be avoided around Paris. The paris region, in fact, is not a space of training of the military pilots, who never approaching to land at Villacoublay, in the south, or in Creil, in the north.
Even with the GPS, the radar means and telecommunications ultrasophistiqués, cape town and the shows are still the basics of air navigation. Here, it should be equal to 116°, which corresponds to the axis of La Défense to Vincennes, passing by the Star, the Champs-Élysées and the place de la Concorde. All of the complexity of the operation lies in the different speeds of the different aircraft. Hunters fly at 300 knots (about 540 km/h), the transport aircraft between 180 and 240 knots and the helicopter at 90 knots. Everyone should fly over the checkpoints in the campaign francilienne indicated during the briefings and respect the timing to more or less three seconds. On the 14th of July, lieutenant-colonel Xavier… (one does not cite the names of families), coordinator of the parade, is surrounded by up to twenty employees (air traffic controllers, responsible for the safety of the airspace, meteorologist) installed at the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Phones, encrypted radios, radars enable to coordinate the parade with the airports of Orly and Roissy-CDG, as well as the base of Villacoublay. When you know that a plane can accelerate a little, but very little slow down (at risk of dropping out), it is seen that the circuits waiting, appointed racetracks because of their forms, require an intense concentration. For pilots, the authorization of reach the centre of the parade – the 116°, cape on the Concorde – is a synonym for true liberation.
In case of failure
the Two pilots look at a map. © Emma ROUZICDe his cockpit, the driver sees mainly the rooftops of Paris, the Sacré-Coeur to the left, the Eiffel tower and Montparnasse on the right. The left hand on the throttle to correct continuously the speed and the other on the stick, it does not leave the eyes the wing of his neighbor patrol. The altitude to be 1000 feet (a little over 300 meters), lower than some of the towers of the La Défense district. All safety instructions were repeated prior to take-off. In addition to the collision, the failure of one thruster remains a concern over the capital. The majority of the aircraft, of course, are multi-engine, able to reach Roissy charles de gaulle or Le Bourget to the north, Villacoublay, france or Orly to the south with an engine failure. A single-engine, outside of parks of Boulogne and Vincennes, piquerait to the Seine to crash. The probability is very small.
The concerns come more often to the weather, to the point that the army does not just one plan B, but of the four configurations. The altitude of the parade is reduced, which excludes aircraft larger as the AWACS or the A330MRTT. In the event of weather really deteriorated, only four aircraft (Mirage 2000D and Rafale) fly in the clouds in the follow-up to land on auto-pilot. The message is clear : the air force may carry out a mission even in the worst weather conditions. This will not be the case in the July 14, 2020.
