Burkina Faso Super Tucano conducts first joint air op with French Mirage 2000 jets

[Vergennes]

The joint air operation came a month after Burkina Faso asked for 48 hours advance notice of foreign military overflights, warning that any unidentified planes would be considered "enemy"

Burkina Faso’s air force conducted its first joint air operation with France, when an Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano worked alongside French Mirage 2000D fighter jets near Arbinda in December, the French Armed Forces Ministry said in a release.

After a December 24 attack on a Burkinabé military detachment near Arbinda in the northern Soum province which borders Mali, two Mirage 2000D jets took off from Niamey air base to conduct the joint operation with the Burkina Faso Air Force (FABF), the Thursday, January 9 release said.

Islamic State claimed fighters from its West Africa Province affiliate carried out the December 24 attack in Hallele, which began when a suicide car bomb (SVBIED) exploded at the base. A security source told AFP that the base was then attacked by more than 200 heavily armed fighters in pick-up trucks and on motorcycles. Seven soldiers were killed and many others injured in intense fighting that lasted several hours.

“Once in flight, we were immediately in radio contact with the pilot of a Burkinabé Tucano aircraft,” said Commander Jean-Baptiste, fighter pilot and leader of the French Mirage 2000 patrol. “He then told us very clearly that Burkinabé troops on the ground were under attack.”

Once the French aircraft arrived in the Arbinda area, they gathered information on the situation, the aircrew apprised the French command and split tasks between the two aircraft.

“The first Mirage supported the camp and the ground troops, while on board the second aircraft we looked for any suspicious activity around the area,” said Commander Camille, a weapons system navigator.

Within minutes, the French crews detected a group of about 10 motorcycles.

“Our goal was then to guide the Burkinabé plane towards the target, so that it could neutralize it,” Jean-Baptiste said. “What the Tucano couldn’t see, we could do for it, while supporting the troops on the ground.”

France 24 reported that the insurgents were eventually repelled after several hours by Burkinabé armed forces supported by air power. However, militants had simultaneously attacked Arbinda town and killed 35 civilians, according to President Roch Marc Christian Kabore. ISIS did not claim that ISWAP was responsible for killing the civilians.

Foreign aircraft in the Sahel

The Franco-Burkinabé joint operation came just over a month after Burkina Faso asked for 48 hours advance notice of foreign military overflights, warning that any unidentified planes would be considered “enemy.” In a letter to foreign defense attachés, chief of staff Brigadier-General Moise Miningou noted that “unidentified aircraft” were overflying Burkinabé military bases and areas of operation.

France has three armed Reaper drones, four Mirage 2000D fighter jets, between six and 10 tactical and strategic transport aircraft including C-130s, and at least 16 helicopters including Tigres and Gazelles deployed to its Operation Barkhane counter-terrorism mission in the Sahel. Atlantic 2 long-range patrol aircraft and A400M transport aircraft have also been used. The Mirages and Reapers are based at the airport near Niger’s capital Niamey.

A French military source told AFP that Miningou’s letter showed that there was a “certain tension” between Burkina Faso and France, but noted that Burkinabé military would not fire on French aircraft, and that “the French can’t give 48-hour notice for a flight over Burkina territory.”

https://thedefensepost.com/2020/01/...ir-operation-france-super-tucano-mirage-2000/