TWO RAFALES COLLIDE AT THE COGNAC AIRSHOW
Two Rafale multirole fighter jets from the French Air and Space Force tactical demonstration team Vautour bravo collided during their display at the Cognac Airshow this Sunday, May 22.
The collision took place on the last day of the Cognac airshow at 12:40 p.m, despite the damage both jets have managed to land safely. The falling debris damaged a house in Gensac-la-Pallue, however, no one on the ground was injured.
One of the aircraft involved was the Rafale 30-GA (pictured below), a jet that was very recently painted in the stunning tiger paint scheme for this year’s NATO Tiger Meet exercise which was taking place from the 9th to the 20th of May in Greece.
Photo: Sebastien Lafargue / French Air & Space Force
The Vautour bravo is a tactical demonstration team of the French Air and Space Force. The team consists of two single-seat Dassault Rafale C (Occasionally double-seat Rafale B) fighter jets from the Fighter Squadron 2/30 Normandie-Niemen and Fighter Squadron EC 3/30 Lorraine based at the Mont-de-Marsan Air Base
The team was created in 2019 at the Mont-de-Marsan Air Base to demonstrate Rafale’s combat ability. Their display lasts around 10-minutes and the pilots demonstrate the operational capabilities of their aircraft such as the “Show of force” during which the aircraft dives towards the ground to intimidate the enemy, the simulations of attacks with cannon and bomb passes as well as the extraordinary power and agility of the rafale.
