• Two new generation PC-21s were received on Monday by the fighter aviation school (EAC) based on BA 709 in Cognac-Châteaubernard.

  • The entire training course for future fighter pilots, which has been reduced to two years and which is now carried out solely on this basis, will be carried out on this device.

  • These PC-21s take part in the Air Force's "Mentor" program, which aims to modernize and optimize the training of future combat pilots and navigators.

At first glance, it doesn't look like much, but be careful, it's mind-blowing.

In the ranks of the Air and Space Forces, the Pilatus PC-21 is full of praise.

Qualified as a true “technological revolution” with its Rafale-type “glass cockpit”, the aircraft displays excellent performance with a speed exceeding 370 knots (685 km/h) and a load factor of +8g/-4g.

Enough to work on missions as close as possible to reality.


It is on this new turboprop training aircraft, manufactured by the Swiss Pilatus Aircraft, that the Air and Space Force now trains its future fighter pilots.

Two new generation PC-21s were received on Monday by the fighter aviation school (EAC) based on BA 709 in Cognac-Châteaubernard (Charente).

They will allow the Air Force to continue its “Mentor” program.

“A centerpiece of the Mentor project”

"Mentor" is a vast program which aims to modernize and optimize the training of future combat pilots and navigators, by training trainees who have left Salon-de-Provence in two years, compared to three previously.

And all are now grouped together at BA 709, when they were previously divided between Cognac, Tours and Cazaux.

“These PC-21 planes are a centerpiece of the Mentor project,” insists Air Corps General Frédéric Parisot.

Since 2018, seventeen PC-21 aircraft have already equipped the Cognac base, which will increase to 26 aircraft by next spring.

All combat crew training will now take place on this aircraft, replacing the old Epsilon and Alphajet.

Even if it is not cheap (count between 11 and 12.5 million euros per aircraft), thanks to a longer flight time, and because it is also more fuel efficient, the PC-21 also allows "to divide by five the cost per hour of flight" compared to the Alphajet.

“Ensuring an arrival in good conditions on Rafale and Mirage 2000”

"The training of combat crews on a single aircraft will make it possible to ensure an arrival in good conditions on the Rafale and Mirage 2000" assures General Parisot.

Especially since with its "glass cockpit" device, with the latest generation simulator that generates fictitious targets and an on-board navigation and attack system, as well as its night vision device, "the PC-21 broadens the field of possibilities”.

The aircraft thus responds in every respect to “our challenges which are to train our war pilots of tomorrow, by giving them the tools to perform well on a fighter.

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A young Rafale pilot at the 3-30 Lorraine squadron in Mont-de-Marsan (Landes), Captain Vincent is part of the first generation of pilots trained on the PC-21.

"It's a complete aircraft, whose integral system ensures a good transition to a jet aircraft [of the Rafale or Mirage 2000 type]", confirms the hunter.

“There is still a technical and intellectual step to take before switching to Rafale, which is a more abrupt aircraft, and whose flight envelope extends drastically, but we get our bearings fairly quickly.

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Latest generation simulator

Before starting their flight training, the trainees first go through the ground simulator stage, which represents 40% of the training.

A latest generation simulator too.

"It allows the trainee to understand all the new things, notably by simulating enemy attacks, without the restrictive aeronautical environment", explains Warrant Officer Kevin.

The trainee will thus practice “executing the perfect gesture”.

Coming out of his “bubble”, Captain Gaëtan confirms that “this simulator is very immersive and allows you to reproduce almost everything you can do in flight, including dogfights.

Returned to the Salon-de-Provence school in 2016, the officer began his training at the hunting school in 2021.


This forms “a constant average of 150 trainees”, explains Colonel Thierry Kessler-Rachel, commander of BA 709. sailors] per year.

» Rising demand.

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