Defence

Video: Mirage 2000D low level flying youtube video clips acts as recruiting tool for French air force

By Justin Wastnage

The French air force may have turned to internet video sharing site Youtube.com in its recruitment drive, posting a slick compilation sequence of some of its fastest fighter jets in action on training excercises.

A low level flying sequence (below), compiled from scenes from 2005 Pathé movie Les Chevaliers du ciel (Skyfighters), is becomingone of the fastest growing clips in France on the film clip site. The clip is understood to have boosted enquiries at air force recruitment drives. It is not clear whether the clip, set to Madonna's You Push Me was posted by anyone working within the French defence ministry in an official capacity.

The French government has previously questioned the growth of youtube, questioning the spread of Anglo-saxon low culture and is investigating its clips' copyright status in France. Instead, the French gorvernment promotes rival video sharing site dailymotion.com, which offers tagging in French and can be broken down by country. It also requires users to sign in before sharing clips.

The flight sequences from the film were all filmed with actual aircraft and aerial photography, without the use of computer-generated imagery. In order to capture the high-speed manoeuvres, a specially designed camera was attached to a Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000 aircraft which then tailed the actor aircraft, a Mirage 2000D and an Marcel Dassault Breguet Aviation / Dornier Alphajet trainer as they flew, as only another Mirage 2000 could actually fly at speeds that matched the planes being filmed.

The air force recuits officers as navigators and pilots and has seen a rise in enquiries since the release of the film, which centres on the hijack of the Mirage 2000D from the Farnborough air show. It has been using real life case studies, in a US style advertising campaign, to attract the youtube generation.