(All images by Martin Briquet Photography)
Urbex photographer Martin Briquet, who several months ago uncovered a vast graveyard of decommissioned Italian Army tanks and armoured personnel carriers, recently stumbled across another forgotten military facility every bit as impressive. Known to the urban exploration community as “La Casse Mirage”, the undisclosed location in France featured row upon row of abandoned Armée de l’Air warplanes, from fighter jets and ground attack aircraft to massive military transports.
(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)
Among the withdrawn aircraft awaiting their fate were high-performance Dassault Mirage combat jets, Fouga CM.170 Magister jet trainers, Anglo-French Sepecat Jaguars and the gutted fuselages of Transall C-160 transport planes. A sizable number of Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets also awaited their appointment with the scrap man.
(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)
Though largely empty hulks that hadn’t flown for years, Briquet’s impressive photographs revealed that some aircraft were in far better condition than others. Some of the decommissioned French Air Force planes remained relatively intact, though many more lay dismantled on neglected runways, their severed wings and tail surfaces dumped on the surrounding concrete.
(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)
What seems like hundreds of abandoned aircraft, including helicopters, lie quietly awaiting scrapping. And it’s understood that this entire ghost fleet could be gone by the end of the year. According to Martin Briquet, the military airfield where the derelict hulks are stored has been closed since 1997, but the location remains under military control.
(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)
Despite the vast amount of defunct military hardware lying out in the open, the facility dubbed La Casse Mirage by local urbex photographers is said to be active only at certain times. Clearly, the dismantling operation has a long way to go, and processing this number of redundant aircraft carcasses is no small task.
(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)
Even so, Briquet believes they may soon be gone, meaning that these mesmerizing photographs could be the last we see of this vast airplane graveyard. Not many people get to walk among the rusting carcasses of once-mighty military warplanes. These amazing photographs are evidence of what an awesome experience doing so must be.
(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)
If you enjoyed this article, don’t miss our in-depth feature covering: 21 Abandoned Airplane Graveyards (Where Aviation History Goes to Die)
The post La Casse Mirage: Where Hundreds of French Warplanes are Scrapped appeared first on Urban Ghosts Media.