France Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

now I read French lawmaker decries dependence on Russian, other foreign capabilities
France suffers from a dependence on Russian and Ukrainian airlifters for the strategic transport of military cargoes, and it also relies fully on U.S. air tankers for refueling Rafale fighter jets, asserted François Cornut-Gentille, a member of Parliament.

The Finance, General Economy and Budgetary Control Committee of Parliament's lower house, the National Assembly, adopted on March 28 the MP's report on French strategic air transport, in which risks of external reliance were made clear.

France “depends totally” on U.S. air tankers to refuel Rafales, Cornut-Gentille told journalists after the committee meeting. “That means our room for maneuver could be reduced in certain circumstances,” he said.

“We have no idea what the Americans might decide in two years or three months,” he said. “No idea at all.”

“It is not a total dependence," Army Col. Patrik Steiger, spokesman for theFrench joint chiefs of staff, said March 30. "It is cooperation among allies. We are allies with the Americans, we are engaged in the Sahel region, Levant, and there is the principle of a ‘mutualization’ of available assets.”

That includes “American support in refueling,” he said, adding that the Defence Ministry just received the parliamentary report and would make a formal reply after the contents have been studied.

There are presently 23 leases, none of which relates to a critical mission, he said. Each of these deals meets the rules governing the award of contracts.

An uncertainty of U.S. support for NATO also called into question the availability of the strategic airlift capability, which flies a fleet of American C-17s, the report said. Each C-17 carries 77 tons of cargo.

The report cast a spotlight on a world in which France and some NATO members rely on Russian and Ukrainian aircraft, and it urged the MoD to pay closer attention to the high cost of leases and lack of competitive bids as well as rely on friendly ties at a time of uncertain geopolitics and heightened tension with Moscow.

“Ukraine and Russia hang a real
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over France in strategic transport,” the report said. “Despite some great phrases, strategic autonomy is, in reality, a virtual effect.”

There is a lack of certitude on the Ukrainian Antonov and Russian Ilyushin cargo planes for French military airlift, all the more so as there are just three companies flying a fleet of some 20 Antonov An-124s, the report said. The three firms are: Flight Unit 224, a company owned by the Russian Defence Ministry; Volga-Dnepr, a privately held Russian firm; and Antonov Airlines, a privately held Ukrainian company.

The An-124 carries 100 tons of cargo, while the largest airlifter, An-225, flies 250 tons. ADB owns the sole operational An-225.

To illustrate the risk of French reliance on leasing Russian operators, the report cited Moscow's cancellation in September 2015 of Flight Unit 224 leases for the An-124 booked by France. That was allegedly Moscow’s response to Paris’ Aug. 5 decision to ax the sale of two Mistral helicopter carriers, following Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.

Those flights had been booked through a lessor, International Chartering Systems, or ICS, based here, which then turned to Volga-Dnepr. That Russian operator declined to accept a French lease, so ICS then asked Antonov Airlines of Ukraine, which agreed to fly its An-124 fleet to airlift French military kit.

The report raised a number of legal questions, including why an open competition failed to be held after Flight Unit 224 withdrew its flights.

ICS has an office in Singapore, ICS Air Cargo, mainly to lease tactical aircraft to the French Barkhane mission in sub-Saharan Sahel, the report said. That arrangement may be legal but raised the question of why the company booked tactical airlift out of Singapore for tactical airlift, while strategic transport was handled out of Paris.

ICS said it opened the Singaporen office to stay competitive with firms located in tax havens and where corporate tax was lower than that of the French rate, business magazine Challenges reported. The Singaporean office could also bypass the anti-Russian embargo adopted in the West.

A parliamentary source said ICS opened the Singaporean office in 2014, a year before the trade sanction was imposed.

The murky business world was reflected with a file of email exchanges on contract awards sent anonymously at the end of 2016 to selected media and two offices of the joint chiefs of staff working on military leases: the center for operational support and transport, and the specialist department for logistics and transport.

The “existence of this file and its distribution shows a deleterious climate,” the report said.

NATO’s Strategic Airlift Interim Solution, or SALIS, also relies on the An-124 and Russian Ilyushin Il-76 transports, the report said. Britain and Canada pulled out of SALIS, with Finland, Greece and Sweden to follow. That leaves France and Germany the main partners in the airlift partnership.

That reliance on those planes makes little sense in view of the poor relations between the West and Moscow, the report said.

Britain and France have deployed forces to Estonia in a bid to bolster the Baltic states in response to a perceived Russian threat.

The report called for greater oversight by the French MoD and more competition in awarding leases.

In view of tough operational conditions, it was hard to find the operators, according to a French Air Force officer.

France relies heavily on strategic airlift, as the services have deployed overseas 6,650 troops, of which 4,000 are with the Barkhane mission in Sahel. There are long-distance flights with 4,100 kilometers between Paris and Bamako, the capital of Mali, and 4,200 kilometers between Paris and N’Djamena, the capital of Chad. Distances within the theater are also great, with 950 kilometers between Bamako and Gao, Mali, and 2,500 kilometers between N’Djamena and Bama, Burkina Faso.

The U.S. cooled relations with France when Paris showed opposition to the Iraq War, and there is deep doubt in Europe over support from the Trump administration.
source is DefenseNews
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TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
This was always coming.
Where were these guys when the C17 line was open? oh that's right they were warm and soft in complacency. I think I said long ago It would be a good Idea for NATO to pick up a few C17 for use by the organization on their own.
Now though little late.
but They have options.
the tanker issue is supposed to be under fixing as the French at least had an order for 12 A330MRT if they order more they may have that cleared up.
if Airbus could get it's act together with the A400M they may have a chance to patch some of there medium transport needs.
but strategic demands bigger.
C17 is out of production as and C5M conversions are limited by serviceable airframes The US will not have a new large transport line for sometime unless the french want to pay for a run of them which would not be cheap. The next US strategic lifter is planned in 2035.2015AFA_BlendedWingRenderA.jpg
IL76 is also out as the whole reason is worry about relations with Russia.
coming close is the An70 but that is only 10 tons more than A400M
About the only production dedicated craft of C17 size right now are the Chinese Y20.

If they are willing to take another root though for a time there was another concept looked into from time to time using commercial liners for transport to augment mission needs, the problem was that it would cost more and could not use less austere runways. the US plan sported C19 and C33 for 747 variants Airbus had offered the A380F as a freighter option but how well it could do?

Or there is this.
 
...
if Airbus could get it's act together with the A400M they may have a chance to patch some of there medium transport needs.
...
yeah I noticed it's 'excelent', 'turning into phenomenal success' type of project:

Feb 15, 2017
LOL if Göring had been still in charge of Lutfwaffe, he would've court-martialed somebody now, as Germany says only one of 8 A400M transports ready for use
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Today at 5:15 PM
Feb 28, 2017

related:
Airbus faces cash headache, lengthy talks over A400M delays
source:
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FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Joint Warrior: An Atlantique 2 in Scotland

Twice a year, the British Armed Forces organize the Joint Warrior exercises. This mainly naval training brought together elements of the armed forces of Northern Europe (Germany, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium ...) as well as representatives of the United States and Canada. The objective is to set up complex and realistic scenarios by bringing together important means. The north of Scotland offers good conditions for training with the possibility of exercises on the high seas as in the coastal zone taking advantage of the cut-off coast and the islands of the west.

Maritime patrol aircraft also participate in "Joint Warrior". For this first edition of 2017, the contingent of "Patmar" is rather reduced with two P-8A Poseidon of the US Navy, a German P-3 Orion and a French ATL2 of the 23F fleet. The double of aircraft sometimes participate in "Joint Warrior". These aircraft operate from the Lossiemouth air base in northern Scotland. A Royal Air Force base that will soon host the P-8s

"Joint Warrior" allows the crews of Lann-Bihoué to train to their main mission, the air-sea combat, they who are very solicited in operation for missions airterrestres. Above the waves, the ATL2 can carry out anti-submarine warfare (ASM), superior surface combat (LAS), surveillance and intelligence (SRI) or sea rescue missions.

The crews emphasize the versatility of the aircraft. If they prepare a specific mission before taking off, they can re-configure themselves in flight very quickly. For the various missions, the ATL2 uses the complementarity of its sensors: radar, electronic warfare and optical (FLIR and view). Other sensors are dedicated to underwater fighting: the magnetic anomaly detector and the acoustic buoys. For ASM and LAS the objectives of the missions are quite identical: to detect, locate, postpone and engage.

During "Joint Warrior", two naval forces are opposed. Maritime patrol aircraft are allocated alternately to one or other of these forces. They are generally under the tactical control of an air defense frigate belonging to this force. The exercise also makes it possible to work interoperability with Allied naval forces and to verify the proper functioning of the communications.
The exercise also assesses the level of allies. The French found the rise of the P-8A of the US Navy. The Canadian CP-140 Aurora are considered among the best "Patmar" in the world. France, on the other hand, retains an important know-how but the renovation of the devices is very awaited

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FRA atl 2.png
 
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