This morning Airbus Military’s all-new A400M took off for its maiden flight from Seville Airport in Spain. The first entirely new airlifter of the 21st Century took to the air from runway 09 at 10:15 local time (09:15 UTC).

At the controls was Chief Test Pilot Military, Edward “Ed” Strongman, 60, with Experimental Test Pilot Ignacio “Nacho” Lombo, 43, in the right-hand seat. Four engineers are also on the aircraft: Senior Flight Test Engineer Jean-Philippe Cottet, 43, who has responsibility for the powerplants; Senior Flight Test Engineer Eric Isorce, 52, with responsibility for systems and performance; Senior Flight Test Engineer Didier Ronceray, 54, with responsibility for the handling qualities of the aircraft; and Test Flight Engineer Gerard Leskerpit, 50.

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Philippe ROSTAING has made a superb piece of workmanship once again. He has just written this file called “French Defence 2009″. This document is rather dedicated to SLP 4 preparation (PLS 4). However, this publication will undoubtedly help those who want to make headway in English as well as in their knowledge of the French military and defence. Click on the book on your left to download French Defence 2009

Contents:

1. French Defence Organization
2. French Defence Policy (including the White Paper 2008)
3. The French Army
4. The French Air Force
5. The French Navy
6. The French Gendarmerie
7. Intelligence and the French Intelligence Community

Mr Rostaing and Prepa PLS anglais are very grateful to LA DOCUMENTATION FRANCAISE and its magazine QUESTIONS INTERNATIONALES. Special thanks to Jean Berton (from La documentation française) who gracefully allowed us to copy paste their brilliant French intelligence community diagram which is available on the 35th Questions Internationales, page 47. For those who want to beg him for the keys of the FRENCH DEFENCE 2009 exercices, they can send him a mail to this address: philippe.rostaing2@laposte.net

Philippe Rostaing teaches military English at the French Air Force Academy (EOAA – Salon de Provence). He was an English teacher at the military college of St Cyr Coetquidan. Last but not least he wrote a fabulous French-English / English-French dictionary of land forces.

Please, visit these sources: http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/ and http://www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/revues-collections/questions-internationales/index.shtml

Photo: © UK Crown copyright

The first Airbus A400M, the RAF’s future transport aircraft, rolled out yesterday from the EADS production facility in Seville, Spain, in front of an international audience.

(Courtesy of www.raf.mod.uk)