The ship was delivered to the DGA French procurement agency on January 3 and officially handed over to the navy on January 14, a ceremony attended by GĂ©rard Longuet, the French defense minister and Admiral Bernard Rogel, the navy chief of staff.
Let's start with a quiz: The Dixmude was berthed next to the BPC Tonnerre which is in the foreground of the photo below. Can you spot the only major visible difference between the two (apart from the scaffolding I mean)?
![blog post photo](http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/6/4/f6c8d3d1-a6cb-47e7-b484-fc45cfa9e343.Large.jpg)
Here she is up close.
![blog post photo](http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/2/1/0238173a-98f2-4fbf-8187-065f6b53862a.Large.jpg)
This is the command post
![blog post photo](http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/4/8/a4967148-1563-45f0-b84c-a3eb7178a63c.Large.jpg)
with clear views both down to the flight deck
![blog post photo](http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/10/12/6a9b9dd7-40ec-441c-bcd2-d292653a4f89.Large.jpg)
and through windows in the floor you can see vertically down the hull
![blog post photo](http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/10/14/1ad1aa71-a271-4f13-9e97-f11d4823cad0.Large.jpg)
When there's no water in the well-deck the space would make a great ball-room!
![blog post photo](http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/6/3/e6183f40-d176-4708-a328-e11e76e6f1ef.Large.jpg)
Easy access from here for armored vehicles, trucks etc. up to the next deck
![blog post photo](http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/3/1/b323b4be-293e-4ec8-91d2-8f39f1a122f2.Large.jpg)
OK, did you spot the difference? It lies in the 11th deck up at the top. The Tonnerre has a thick bar across the middle of the windows while the Dixmude has a clear pane, as you can see in the illustration below.
![blog post photo](http://sitelife.aviationweek.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/13/3/fda9a7a8-14c6-4398-83fe-2bd91e6d9eff.Large.jpg)
Photos: Christina Mackenzie
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