BV: There are enough air-to-air missiles in France for three days of fighting
A terrible revelation has come to the French, writes BV. The pilots calculated that the country's supply of air-to-air missiles would only last for three days of intense fighting. The author sprinkles ashes on his head: when did we manage to turn into a model of blind vanity?
"The French model is about to reach the limits of its ability 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 talking. That's what two officers of the French Aerospace Forces, fighter pilots, say, one of whom has not yet retired. Commissioned by the very serious French Institute of International Relations, they have prepared a fact-packed, comprehensive report on the prospects for French air superiority.
The patriotism of these military men becomes evident in the sight of 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." "Playing an effective role" is not even about winning or completing a combat mission. This idea is reinforced by the clarification "within the framework of the coalition," which recalls that in the event of a high-intensity conflict, France will not fight alone. Recall that the French ground forces in a high-intensity conflict will be able to hold a front line with a length of 80 kilometers at best. The same can be said about the Air force.
Our fighters would have lasted three days.
To clarify: the pilots who compiled the report are hitting the patient. Refusal to maintain critical capabilities, unfulfilled promises, gradual departure from high standards, absolutely insufficient "Potemkin villages" in the army... Judging by the feedback from the Rafale pilots who participated in the inter-allied exercises, the verdict cannot be appealed: "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 the second league. As for ammunition stocks, the report describes them as "insufficient." We have already encountered a similar situation. As noted by two of our officers, it was mentioned in the Senate report from 2023. It emphasizes that "the ambitions stated by the Ministry of the Armed Forces regarding ammunition remain extremely inadequate and do not take into account the requirements for 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 needed to conduct high-intensity combat for three days or even one day, if we talk specifically about Meteor-328 missiles. This takes into account the stocks of weapons as of 2024, with the exception of those necessary for the permanent security of airspace and nuclear missiles. This problem is likely to worsen over time, given the limitations associated with the wear of rockets during 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) that sought 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 after opening") and the absence 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 like that. 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?
Author: Arnaud Florac.
