French Armée de l'Air News & Discussion

[RobWilliams]

Tried looking for a thread like this, found plenty of scattered threads about Rafale so I thought one central thread like this would be a better option.

Good picture from G_Steuer on twitter of the first French A400M in the sky decked out with French colours, it's completed it's inaugural flight - some 7 hours - today too.

He posted a decent stat too from a colleague

A400M would be able to fly Istres>Bamako in 5h30 with a 31t payload vs 13t in 7h30 for a C-130 & 5t in 9h for a Transall

Which aircraft specifically is the A400M replacing in this instance? IIRC the AdlA are getting something like 50 A400M at the last count, presumably they're replacing the C-160.

For what it's worth, in this case the pair are journalists for Air & Cosmos which is a French aerospace magazine.

EDIT: Forgot to attach the darn photo . . . .

[harryriedl]

Originally Posted by RobWilliams

Tried looking for a thread like this, found plenty of scattered threads about Rafale so I thought one central thread like this would be a better option.

Good picture from G_Steuer on twitter of the first French A400M in the sky decked out with French colours, it's completed it's inaugural flight - some 7 hours - today too.

He posted a decent stat too from a colleague



Which aircraft specifically is the A400M replacing in this instance? IIRC the AdlA are getting something like 50 A400M at the last count, presumably they're replacing the C-160.

Its the C160 which are absolutely at the end of their lives plus give a little strat lift which has been helping the French out in Mali. Seeing how RAF and the Canadians have been using the C17 to help out on strategic lift.

I do wonder why France never considered C17 as they do have the requirement for such craft

[ADMk2]

Originally Posted by harryriedl

Its the C160 which are absolutely at the end of their lives plus give a little strat lift which has been helping the French out in Mali. Seeing how RAF and the Canadians have been using the C17 to help out on strategic lift.

I do wonder why France never considered C17 as they do have the requirement for such craft

Requirements - yes.

Cash - no, because they're investing it all in A400M.

I'd imagine that 40-44 A400M and 4-6 C-17A would enormously improve their strategic airlift capability, but they only seem to be investing in products delivered by local industry (apart from a few specific capabilities - GBU-49 dual mode Paveway II/III and Harfang / Heron UAV springs to mind).

[Ananda]

Nato already share ownership with A-3 AWACS, isn't they also planning to pull the resources for share ownership of C-17 (or they have done it already ?). If they can pull share ownership of C-17, then perhaps Franch can use that. Afterall I do believe most of their requirement will be meet by A-400M.

[swerve]

The collective E-3 & C-17 fleets are not owned or shared by all of NATO. Countries opt in, pay a share, & get the use of the aircraft. France, like the UK, has its own E-3s, & has no share in the NATO E-3 fleet. The SAC C-17s (all three of them) are owned by a 12 nation consortium, including two countries (Finland & Sweden) which are not NATO members. France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey & several other NATO members have no share in those C-17s.

There are other collective arrangements within NATO that not all members take part in.