F1s in Chad

[Delta-canard]

I might be beating a dead horse here but...  Do you know some good sources on French F1 operations in Africa? I know we have the Spanish versions but we've all seen those videos of French F1s flying crazy low level. From what I've read, there initially was an air to air component to those deployments, against the Lybians. For a/g work, they were initially assisted by the Jaguars which carried the designator pod. Towards the end, some 2000s (D anc C as bomb truck) joined but reportedly were almost resented as intruders in the F1's own playground. This makes me wonder, during years of deployment, there were no pod-capable aircraft in the area? I can't believe they always had a jtac on ground, so did they just toss dumb bombs as CAS work well into the 2000s?

[Bremspropeller]

Not sure there were too many bombs tossed at all, after the tensions with the Libyans were eased in the early 90s. Operation Épervier seems to have turned mostly into a show of force by that time.

 

If anybody does have a hint on literature beyond "Libyan Air Wars" and "France in Centrafrique", I'd be listening closely as well.

[Thinder]

 

[Delta-canard]

Great find!

I read a collection of testimonials from French fighter pilots, many of whom had flown the F1 at some point. They clearly say at one point that the only relevant armament in their African operations was the cannon, they would strafe and very rarely drop bombs. For more sophisticated weapons there seems to have been a hiatus between the retirement of the Jag and the arrival of the 2000Dn then the Rafale.

Also, they apparently had some incredibly scenic views in Chad. Flying fighter jets IN a volcanic crater sounds otherwoldly.

[Bremspropeller]

Africa is a stunningly beautiful continent with lots of interesting conflicts and scenarios for DCS.

Also, the french Air Power commitment in Africa was and is more than just Chad, but most conflicts are little known by the broad DCS player-base and it would be hard to build an economically viable map around it. Same goes for other African  wars of which many have been ongoing for decades with death-tolls exceeding other conflicts since WW2.

I'd love to see a sub-saharan Africa map one day.

[Dragon1-1]

Worth noting the area to cover wars in North Africa would be gigantic - you'd basically need the entire width of the continent. Borders in that region are basically lines on the map, conflicts there are not obliged to follow them and most of the time they don't. 

[Temetre]

Am 20.5.2023 um 15:21 schrieb Bremspropeller:

Africa is a stunningly beautiful continent with lots of interesting conflicts and scenarios for DCS.

Sounds a bit funny, a beautiful place to drop bombs at xD

But yeah a big map set in central or south Africa would be amazing. North africa is already a bit on the Sinai map.

[Bozon]

On 5/29/2023 at 3:48 PM, Temetre said:

North africa is already a bit on the Sinai map.

North Africa is just a cross between Arabia and classic Mediterranean - it is south of the Sahara where things get really crazy.

[GUFA]

 

On 5/29/2023 at 10:48 PM, Temetre said:

But yeah a big map set in central or south Africa would be amazing. North africa is already a bit on the Sinai map.

Really is a Shame that we will have 2 maps of pretty much the same area (Syria +Sinai) and the same time. But no WW2 or Libya, Chad, ED needs to do better and "no"more map doubles (S+S).

Edited June 1, 2023 by GUFA

[Temetre]

vor 43 Minuten schrieb Bozon:

North Africa is just a cross between Arabia and classic Mediterranean - it is south of the Sahara where things get really crazy.

Yeah thats what I mean. Maybe im ignorant, but north african mediteranean doesnt seem that varied whenm you already got Syria, Sinai (with egypt+nile region) and the gulf map.

South of Sahara, otoh? Thats where terrain (and political history) get really interesting.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Temetre