Nine Rafales participated in this year's Frisian Flag, only the second time the type had taken part. The first time was in 2008.

Around 180 French airmen deployed to Leeuwarden, many of them were maintenance and support personnel. In this photo technicians prepare a Rafale for flight.

Rafale C No.128/30-GG painted with a tiger tail to celebrate 100 years of SPA 162.

The single-seat Rafale Cs participating in Frisian Flag were configured with a single MICA captive training missile carried on the left hand wingtip station.

Fighters based at Leeuwarden Air Base for Frisian Flag were able to aerial refuel with tanker aircraft operating from Eindhoven Air Base as part of the European Air Refuelling Training exercise.

After hours of planning this Rafale pilot climbs aboard to start his next Frisian Flag mission.

SPA 162 operates the Rafale B and C models from BA118 Mont-de-Marsan in the South of France.

Never in the history of Frisian Flag did the Armee de I'Air deploy so many aircraft to the exercise. This year's French participants were nine Rafales and four Mirage 2000Ds.

A Mirage 2000D crew assigned to EC 3 from BA133 Nancy climb aboard their jet. The aircraft has mission markings applied from Operation Barkhane.

The Mirage 2000Ds at Frisian Flag were configured with a single GBU-49 precision-guided munition carried on the centreline pylon under the fuselage.

Final pre-flight checks for a Rafale B crew assigned to EC 01.004 'Gascogne'.

EC 01.004 'Gascogne' based at BA113 Saint Dizier is part of the Armee de I'Air's Strategic Forces Command, flying the Rafale B since 2010.