In 2011, 20 helicopters of the Aviation légère de l'armée de Terre (ALAT, French Army Light Aviation) deployed on the Marine Nationale (French Navy) amphibious assault ship FS Tonnerre (L9014) participated in the Libyan War against forces loyal to de facto ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
A decade later, the ALAT and navy conducted a joint exercise across southern France’s Hérault mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. During the wargames, held between September 27 and October 16, 2021, participants simulated joint operations similar to those that took place during Opération Harmattan and Unified Protector in Libya, but on a far bigger scale with two amphibious assault ships – the FS Tonnerre joined by Mistral (L9013) – and a larger number of helicopters. It wasthe first time in the history of the French Armed Forces, the French Naval Aeromobile Group (GNAM) simultaneously deployed two amphibious helicopter carriers during a military exercise.
Dubbed Cormoran-21, the wargame was commanded by Rear Admiral Christophe Cluzel of the French Navy and his deputy Brigadier General Frédéric Barbry of the French Army from on board their command ship, Tonnerre.
Some 1,300 personnel participated from across the two Fr…
