Twenty four French Rafale fighter jets flew missions over Iraq Friday now that the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier has returned to the fight against ISIS. The carrier returned to the region of the Mediterranean Sea in September, the BBC reported. A French officer said the aircraft were ultimately slated to assist in the battle to retake Mosul from ISIS control, according to the BBC report. This mission marks the third time the Charles de Gaulle, the sole French aircraft carrier, has been sent to the region since January 2015. France pledged the deployment earlier this summer during a meeting of defense leaders of the coalition nations.
The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.