THE DIAMOND'S EDGE

After several months at sea in the Arabian Sea aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, from which they had operated in Afghan skies against the Taliban, the fighter pilots of the French Navy returned to their families in France and prepared to resume training. But current events decided otherwise. The Arab world was ablaze in the spring of 2011. In Libya, Gaddafi's tanks were at the gates of Benghazi, threatening to crush in blood a population in revolt aspiring to reclaim its freedom. On 17 March, the UN Security Council voted to establish a no-fly zone to protect civilians systematically targeted by the dictator's army and to put an end to disappearances, torture and summary executions. Sixty-eight hours later, the Charles de Gaulle set sail. From that point on, for Lieutenant Commander Yannick Piart, qualified as a military pilot in 2001, missions followed one another for several months at a relentless pace. Catapulted from the deck in his Rafale Marine day and night, he and his fellow pilots carried out a wide variety of airstrikes at the controls of the flagship of French aviation. A true immersion in the electrifying atmosphere of a fighter cockpit and a faithful portrait of a naval aviator's career, La pointe du diamant also offers a sincere account of the combat and exceptional commitment of the men and women of the carrier air wing, as well as of the incredible human hive that is the Charles de Gaulle and its 2,000 crew members.