“Here we go again”: what was this new plane flyover in the North?

We will clearly have to get used to it: like the previous week, some readers of La Voix du Nord alerted us on Tuesday evening. An unidentified plane was making loops in the sky of the North, between the south of Gravelines and the north of Liévin. Here we go again “, wrote a witness to us, another reporting the presence of the aircraft above Le Gorgue, in Flanders.

Another “mission from one of our tankers” indicates the Air Force

A similar flight had already raised questions exactly one week before. The Air Force, contacted by La Voix du Nord, had indicated that it “ It was indeed an A330 MRTT Phénix from the 31^e Strategic Air Refueling and Transport Wing (EARTS) stationed at Istres Air Base 125 “. A device that “ was carrying out an in-flight refueling mission in an area designated for this purpose and in compliance with the aeronautical rules in force “.

Contacted again by La Voix du Nord on Wednesday, the Air Force responded to us on Thursday morning: “ This is another mission from one of our refuellers, like last week. “On Tuesday morning, this aircraft had already carried out the same type of flight (and loops) over Châteauroux. On Wednesday, it repeated the feat in the morning with a similar flight to the west of Corsica, then in the afternoon around Cholet. Each time departing from the Istres base.

The aircraft is an Airbus A330, as indicated on the Air Force website. Capable of refueling two fighters simultaneously or an E-3F surveillance aircraft, the Phénix carries up to 110 tons of fuel distributed in the aircraft’s wing. Its main mission is to refuel the airborne component of the nuclear deterrent. “, he explains.

“ In addition to its Morphée capacity (resuscitation module for patients with high evacuation elongation), the Phénix, with the A400M Atlas, allows to increase strategic transport capacities with a multiplied passenger and freight carrying capacity. A single aircraft can project, for example, a plot of two to four fighters, with its mechanics and their maintenance lot. “, explains the Air Force.