The country's major news agencies have released data from the Ministry of Defense, 'forced' to tell the truth about the status of the air force following a parliamentary inquiry. The situation of the French Air Force is disastrous and one wonders (actually the warning about the degradation of the entire European combat force was launched, last year, during the last NATO summit) which is the real status of all the nations of the Alliance and how much the latter can do without the United States in the current scenario.
Returning to France. Only the 40 percent of the aircraft used by the French Armed Forces can be used continuously - write the Liberation newspaper quoting the Ministry of Defense - some aircraft were purchased more than half a century ago, when it was Charles de Gaulle.
Specifically, in the Armée de l'air 14 Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft are in service, but only four of them are actually operational. The French army plans to replace the entire Hercules fleet with the Airbus A400M Atlas. Information on the 'Stratotanker' aircraft is classified, however the average service time of the 14 Boeing KC-135 exceeds 50 years.
The French aviation has 225 fighter planes online: 130 Dassault Mirage and just under a hundred Rafale. 45 Rafale cannot be considered 'Ready to Fight', just as the status of Mirage multi-role fighters is equally bleak.
Overall, between the 38 and the 41% of the entire French air combat force is actually operational. Finally, the information on the technical condition of the aircraft classified as nuclear attack capacity is classified.
The French air fleet is not the only one with problems. Last year, a disastrous picture also emerged for the German air forces. As of today, only half of its available fighters can take off.
Franco Iacch
(photo: Ministère de la Défense)
