The French frigate Aquitaine, deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean as part of Operation Chammal, this weekend saw a low-altitude overflow by at least one Russian jet displaying an “aggressive” posture, according to the term the newspaper heard, characterized by two elements.
The first is the proximity: the aircraft has passed closer to the French warship. While such Russian visits are not rare in the vicinity of French ships, they are generally at a reasonable distance, thus marking an attitude clearly unambiguous, if not friendly. This time, the overflow was clearly more belligerent, according to the report by LePoint, The second significant element is that the plane was, this time, fully armed, turning the incident into a clear message to the French authorities, and particularly to President Emmanuel Macron, Chief of the Armed Forces.
