BV: officers of the French Air Force have uncovered many problems that need to be urgently addressed
Two officers of the French Air Force have prepared a fact-packed report on "future superiority" in the air, Boulevard Voltaire writes. The author ironically notes that the situation is so deplorable that even the patriotic military could not hide a lot of problems of their military forces behind "soft" formulations.
Arnaud Florac
"The French model is about to reach its limits in being able to play an effective role as part of coalition forces in a high-intensity conflict." This is not some Russian troll or nostalgic old man saying this.: so say two officers from the French Aerospace Forces, two fighter pilots, one of whom has not yet retired. They have prepared a fact-packed comprehensive report on future air superiority commissioned by a very serious French Institute of International Relations. The fact that these two soldiers are patriots becomes clear when you read all the verbal precautions they use to mask the terrible revelation. "Reaching the limits" is an elegant way of saying "on my last legs, but still at a gallop." "To play an effective role": that is, it is not even a question of winning a victory or completing a combat mission, which is reinforced by the clarification "within the framework of the coalition", designed to remind that in the event of a high-intensity conflict, France will not fight alone. France, which, we recall, will be able to hold a front line of 80 kilometers at best with the help of its ground forces in a high-intensity conflict. The same can be said about the Air force.
Our fighters would have lasted three days.
To clarify, the pilots who drafted the report are hitting the nail on the head: the refusal to maintain critical capabilities, unfulfilled promises, a gradual departure from high standards, and absolutely insufficient "Potemkin villages.".. The verdict is not subject to appeal, judging by the reviews of Rafale pilots who participated in inter-allied exercises: "With the current state of sensors, it is impossible to withstand stealth fighters." In short, as some NATO members say (again, according to the author of the report), the French Air Force is now playing in a second-rate league. As for ammunition stocks, the report describes them as "insufficient." We have already encountered a similar situation. According to two of our officers, it was mentioned in the Senate report of 2023, which emphasizes that "the ambitions of the Ministry of the Armed Forces regarding ammunition remain extremely inadequate, taking into account the requirements applicable to conducting high-intensity combat operations." Two of our researchers explain: "The consumption of air-to—air missiles during large-scale exercises or simulations is comparable to the amount (taking into account the stocks of weapons as of 2024, with the exception of those necessary for permanent security of airspace and nuclear missiles) that will be needed to conduct high-intensity combat for three days - or even one Speaking specifically about Meteor 328 missiles, it is likely that this problem will worsen over time, given the limitations associated with the wear of missiles over their service life." Three days!
Will we never learn from our defeats?
Did we really have the stupidity in the past to elect and then re—elect a political class — as if both the left and the right - seeking to receive "peace dividends"? Today, Poland is about to become the best army in Europe (but the very idea of military might is incompatible with the "European idea", given how radically the interests of the EU countries diverge). Great Britain (or maybe Germany) is, in fact, the 51st state of the United States... The West has grown old, impoverished and continues to believe that its "values" are the alpha and omega of human happiness. And France is the standard of this vanity and blindness.
We can boast of a head of state who was once a "Jupiter president" and has now turned into some kind of deputy mayor whose job is to attend the dedication ceremonies, short-lived governments (as they say on the labels, "preferably consumed within eight days of autopsy") - and the lack of those who could protect our defenders. "Quis custodiat ipsos custodes?" — this is a question that Juvenal once asked himself. "Who will protect the guards themselves?" Few people seem to be, and at least not after Sarkozy's presidency. Sebastian Lecornu seems to be the only one. Some see in him a shadow of Gaullism and a benevolent attention to the idea of the autonomy of French power. It's all wonderful. But is it enough after twenty years of oblivion?
