French Air Force (Armée de l'Air)

max steel wrote:    Only 40% of French Military Aircraft Deemed Operational  

Between 38 and 41 percent of Mirage jet fighters are operational, according to 20minutes.fr. The French Armed Forces declined to comment on the technical state of those aircraft, which can conduct nuclear strikes.

The French military air fleet seems to be in crisis and it is not alone. Last year reports emerged that almost half of German military aircraft were not fit for deployment.


http://sputniknews.com/military/20150621/1023649779.html

There are nothing surprising, moreover, this figures are overestimated, especially concerning the Rafale
http://www.liberation.fr/economie/2015/06/19/armee-de-l-air-la-flotte-francaise-en-partie-clouee-au-sol_1333006
They claimed that just only 44 rafales are able to fly, it is another lie, the information is classified. The number should be between 30-40, because of the cost, the complexity. Notice that for the indian Su-33, the availability is around 40%. The world wide is trapped by the complexity of the new fighters generation. More they are sophisticated, more they are expensive, less they are available. In this view, is it a good thing to develop fighter like SU-PAK FA, F-22, F-35, Typhoon ?

It is noteworthy to compare with the stupid figures provided by US air Force, when they claimed that 70% of their 180 F-22 are available. It is completely laughable, and stupid. If 20% fleet of the F-22 is able to fly, it is an exploit.

"France has carried out its first air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria. French planes destroyed a training camp in the eastern town of Deir al-Zour, President Francois Hollande said.
A US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes against IS in Syria and Iraq for more than a year. Speaking in New York, Mr Hollande said a political solution was needed to end the Syrian war, but President Bashar al-Assad could not be part of it. France, like the UK, has previously confined its air strikes against the Islamic State group to Iraqi airspace.The UK announced earlier this month it had carried out a drone strike against two British citizens in Syria but has yet to fly manned operations in Syrian airspace."


Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34372892

France apparently banned USAF Global Hawk UAVs from flying though its airspace. Apparently its coz US either failed to agree to turn off sensors while flying over France or fact that its quite dangerous for civilian aviation as proven already few times.



Source: http://augengeradeaus.net/2015/10/dronewatch-geplanter-global-hawk-flug-ueber-deutschland-vorerst-abgesagt/
Translated: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=sr&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Faugengeradeaus.net%2F2015%2F10%2Fdronewatch-geplanter-global-hawk-flug-ueber-deutschland-vorerst-abgesagt%2F&edit-text=

Notice that for the indian Su-33, the availability is around 40%.

That is an amazing availability rate for a plane they don't operate...

"Friday, October 16, 2015, the first flight of an airborne passive radar was held on the air base 701 Salon-de-Provence. This flight follows the promising initial ground tests of the complete system, which took place in the spring of that year. This latest technology offers the ability to detect potential air threats at low altitude and low speed, while remaining discreet. The main feature of this radar system is that it acts purely as a receiver and uses electromagnetic emissions already in the environment. This way, it exploits echoes created by civilian transmitters such as those of digital terrestrial television (DTT). The experimental aircraft used for these tests is the Busard motoglider belonging to ONERA. It is fitted with a complete reception system that was specially developed for the project, and which in particular can be integrated into a pod carried by the aircraft.



The first flight lasted two hours, and took place in the area around Salon-de-Provence – Orange – Aix-en-Provence – Marseille to benefit from the DTT transmitters located at Grande Etoile and Mont Ventoux. These tests have validated the electronic part of the system. This marks an important milestone for the project. Data integrity has been validated and data is currently being processed by the project team to further develop processing methods especially tailored to the airborne environment."

Source: http://defence-blog.com/news/french-air-force-flight-tests-passive-airborne-radar.html

US Authorizes $650Mln Sale for C-130J Super Hercules Aircraft to France

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20151111/1029899897/us-hercules-sale-france.html#ixzz3rNqhR3pQ

French Mirage 2000 markings apparently operated from Jordan to strike targets inside Iraq/Syria.

Militarov wrote:

French Mirage 2000 markings apparently operated from Jordan to strike targets inside Iraq/Syria.

Bombs carried (not even missions) rather than targets hit?

short_fuze wrote:

Militarov wrote:

French Mirage 2000 markings apparently operated from Jordan to strike targets inside Iraq/Syria.

Bombs carried (not even missions) rather than targets hit?

Not even that. Just bombs painted on the side of the aircraft.

Militarov wrote:

French Mirage 2000 markings apparently operated from Jordan to strike targets inside Iraq/Syria.

That's not much, even in a patrol configuration (2 fuel tanks, 1 designation pod, 2 AA missiles, 2 AASM). That means 20 sorties tops in nearly a year and a half? Well not that long since the planes and crew have been likely rotated but still... Interesting thing is that he dropped dumb bombs possibly older 400kg (because we run out of 250kg, all the new ones comes with the AASM kits AFAIK).

short_fuze wrote:
Bombs carried (not even missions) rather than targets hit?

Nah that's bomb dropped on target (a hit, at least as far as the air force is concerned). I've seen longer ones going all the way from before the trap on the nose to over the ID number, it's nowhere near a record.

Bidoul wrote:

Militarov wrote:

French Mirage 2000 markings apparently operated from Jordan to strike targets inside Iraq/Syria.

That's not much, even in a patrol configuration (2 fuel tanks, 1 designation pod, 2 AA missiles, 2 AASM). That means 20 sorties tops in nearly a year and a half? Well not that long since the planes and crew have been likely rotated but still... Interesting thing is that he dropped dumb bombs possibly older 400kg (because we run out of 250kg, all the new ones comes with the AASM kits AFAIK).

short_fuze wrote:
Bombs carried (not even missions) rather than targets hit?

Nah that's bomb dropped on target (a hit, at least as far as the air force is concerned). I've seen longer ones going all the way from before the trap on the nose to over the ID number, it's nowhere near a record.

Thanks for the info.

General Atomics to Sell Reaper Drones to France for $43.7Mln - Pentagon

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has won a $43.7 million US Air Force foreign military sales contract to supply France with MQ-9 Reaper Drones, the US Department of Defense announced.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The drone has been extensively used in military operations in the Middle East.

“General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, has been awarded a… $43,740,596… contract action for France's MQ-9 second system,” the announcement on Tuesday said. “Work will be performed at Poway, California, and is expected to be complete by Oct. 31, 2017.”

On November 13, 2015 the Defense Department reported that an MQ-9 had killed the notorious Islamic State terrorist Mohammed Emwazi, popularly known as “Jihadi John,” who had publicly beheaded at least six Western prisoners on videos.

General Atomics drones have now amassed more than 2.1 million cumulative flight hours and recorded the highest mission capable rate of any aircraft in the US Air Force's inventory.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20160120/1033402181/general-atomics-reaper-sell.html#ixzz3xloHGGXx

George1 wrote:US Authorizes $650Mln Sale for C-130J Super Hercules Aircraft to France

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20151111/1029899897/us-hercules-sale-france.html#ixzz3rNqhR3pQ

Now happening. This won't go down well at the Airbus A400M division.

As informs a portal "Opex360.com", January 29, 2016, the Directorate General of armaments (Direction générale de l armement - DGA) of the French defense Ministry officially announced the purchase of four military transport aircraft Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules of the new production directly from the U.S. air force on line Foreign Military Sales (FMS).

The contract amount is unknown, but in a statement released November 10, 2015 Agency of the U.S. Department of defense on military cooperation (Defense Security Cooperation Agency – DSCA) notifying Congress of the impending sale by France of two FMS line of planes C-130J and two transport and refueling aircraft KC-130J on their basis the total estimated cost of supplies was estimated at us $ 650 million, of which $ 295 million is the actual cost of the four aircraft and four spare turboprop engines Rolls Royce AE-2100D to them, and 355 million - the cost installed on the aircraft on-Board systems of self-defense (including systems AN/ALE-47, AN/AAR-47A(V)2 and AN/ALR-56M), navigation systems, communication systems and spare parts, technical support, personnel training, etc.

The first two C-130J will be delivered in late 2017 or early 2018. As for the other two versions, in a tanker (KC-130J), they will be in 2019.

French Air Force Plans Hires, Orders New Bombs


The French Air Force is looking to recruit more mechanics to maintain fighter jets and also urgently acquiring bombs and equipment to support a high rate of operational use, air chief Gen. André Lanata said Tuesday.

Urgent operating requirements have been posted for new munitions and satellite communications, he told defense journalists on March 8, daily Le Monde reported.

The new munitions are BLU 111 and 126 low-collateral-damage bombs, which will be adapted and certified for the Rafale and Mirage strike fighters, a French Air Force spokesman said. The bombs have been ordered without a guidance kit.

The service is counting on orders placed for new equipment, particularly four C-130J transports, with missiles for the special forces, the report said.

France would order Griffin missiles to arm two of the C-130Js, a defense official said in May. The first two Hercules are due for delivery between the end of 2017 and early 2018, the procurement office said Feb. 1.

More laser-targeting pods for the Rafale and Mirage and a satellite communications system for the former have also been ordered, the spokesman said.

A priority on personnel is to recruit mechanics for the fighter jets, the report said.

The service will recruit some 450 mechanics this year, with 90 percent non-commissioned officers, and 10 percent officers, a second spokesman said. Their main task will be to maintain the fighter engines and avionics.

The service is keen to see French officers of the right rank assigned to allied command centers and that the conditions in airbases overseas fully support personnel and aircraft, the first spokesman said.

Fighter pilots are flying a highly intensive rate of missions overseas, five times that of those charged with security of the domestic airspace and nuclear deterrent missions.

“Eight Mirage 2000s in Jordan are flying the equivalent of 40 aircraft in France,” Lanata said. “They are five times more flown.”

Pilots and co-pilots are flying 90 hours on a two-month assignment, half the total number of hours scheduled in a year under the service budget.

The crews can manage the rate of missions but there is less equipment and time available to train young pilots, he said.

Mirages and Rafales are respectively deployed in the Chammal operation over Iraq and Syria, and the Barkhane mission in sub-Saharan Africa. The requirement for aircraft maintenance and spares is stretching the operational plan.

Asked whether the service could take on a mission over Libya, Lanata said the Air Force could take up the operation but after a certain time, other missions would need to be reconsidered.

The Air Force is flying out combat missions out of airbases in Abu Dhabi, Chad, Jordan and Niger.

"Patroller: the French army’s new tactical drone

During a visit to the Sagem (Safran) plant in Montluçon today (Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region), French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian witnessed the official announcement of the French army's new "tactical drone system" (SDT) program contract. Vincent Imbert, Deputy director of the French Defence procurement agency (Direction Générale de l'Armement), handed the SDT contract to Philippe Petitcolin, Chief Executive Officer of Safran, and Ross McInnes, Chairman of the Safran Board of Directors. The program is under the contracting authority of the DGA and is based on the Patroller drone system, for which Sagem is prime contractor.

The Patroller drone won a hard-fought competition for this contract. In 2018 the Patroller will take over for the Sperwer tactical drone now deployed by the French army's 61st Artillery Regiment, part of the Intelligence Brigade. The military spending bill for 2014-2019 provides for the delivery of 14 aircraft. Integrated in the digital battlefield, the Patroller is a real-time surveillance and intelligence drone system. It is deployed by command units to support land operations, help protect front-line units and provide intelligence information. Its modular design enables it to carry a multi-sensor intelligence payload exceeding 250 kg, installed in the airframe, or in pods (optronics, radar and signals intelligence). It offers 20 hours of endurance and has an operating ceiling of 20,000 ft.

During official tests at the Istres air force base in July 2015, the Patroller demonstrated the performance of its new-generation optronics (electro-optical) system, providing long-range observation, and simultaneous and real-time operation of several sensors (optical and radar imaging). These tests spotlighted its deployment capability, small logistics footprint, scalability and ease of operation. Sagem is prime contractor for the French tactical drone system program, leading the Patroller Cluster, a consortium of more than 25 French high-tech companies. The French Minister of Defense's selection of the Patroller drone will create about 300 qualified jobs in France, and also bolster Sagem's partnership with the German company Ecarys, which supplies the ES-15 airframe for the Patroller system.

Safran Chief Executive Officer Philippe Petitcolin congratulated the company for this success, stating: "Building on Sagem's 25 years of experience in making tactical drones, the selection of the Patroller confirms French industry's leading position in the European surveillance drone market. Our teams are ready to meet this challenge, and they will be worthy of the trust placed in us by the country."

Martin Sion, Chief Executive Officer of Sagem, added: "The French Ministry of Defense's choice of the Patroller certifies its performance and quality, giving Sagem a major advantage in seizing export opportunities for surveillance drones. Several countries have already expressed their interest in the Patroller, especially in Asia and the Middle East."

Source: http://www.safran-group.com/media/20160405_patroller-french-armys-new-tactical-drone

French Air Force to upgrade 55 Mirage 2000D fighters

According to the magazine «Air & Cosmos» Article, French Defense Ministry announced a program of modernization of fighter-bombers Dassault Mirage 2000D of French Air Force. The costs of this are provided in the draft budget for 2016. Now the program is considered to be officially initiated. Mirage 2000D will be the program of modernization of the mid-life cycle.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2026591.html

The level of combat readiness of the French Air Force, by aircraft type

As the resource «opex360.com» in the material «Le taux de disponibilité des C-130H Hercules de l'armée de l'Air peine à décoller» traditionally during the last ten years, a deputy of the French National Assembly, François Cornu-Gentil sends requests to the French Ministry of Defense regarding the level of serviceability of aircraft equipment of the armed forces. By definition, an aircraft is considered to be serviceable, if it is able "within in less than six hours to perform a task, the corresponding functions defined performance characteristics, all based airfields." These serviceability are indicators to assess the state of the technique used.

Recent findings (sent ten months after the request) issues affect serviceability of different types of French Air Force aircraft, as well as the value of their services.

Thus, compared with the 2014 year, it may be noted that the cost of services rose to 95.7 million euros. This increase may seem insignificant, but the number of aircraft in combat units fell not very important, especially because of the write-off of fighter Dassault Mirage F.1. But this can be explained, perhaps, increased the intensity of aircraft in recent years. Besides, it has not been made public data on Airbus A400M Atlas.

Talking about specific types of aircraft, it is noted that the serviceability of 93 fighter aircraft Dassault Rafale B and C is relatively stable year to year (48.50% as against 47.70% in 2014). But at the same time, operating costs significantly increased from 226.4 to 343.90 million euros.

Status of fighters Dassault Mirage 2000 is difficult to assess as the percentage of serviceable 29 Mirage 2000N is classified information. However, with respect to this type of operation cost increased from 293.5 to 309.8 million euros to park cars (compared to 156 in the 2014 year).

On average, the level of the healthy Mirage2000 is maintained at the same level. But if we consider the matter in more detail, for the Mirage 2000D, which are widely used in the Middle East and North Africa, serviceability fell from 38.7% to 32.9%, and for Mirage 2000B - increased (45.6% and 41, 7% in 2014). For Mirage 2000C, these figures have remained stable - about 45%, and for the Mirage 2000-5 even increased slightly (39.1% compared to 37.5%).

Despite the decrease in operating costs 134 Alpha Jet training and combat aircraft from 160.4 million euro to 143.9 million euro), their serviceability increased.

In the case of military transport aircraft the situation is more alarming, despite the fact that the percentage of the remaining serviceable aircraft 24 Transall C-160 grew from 40.1% to 45.6%. But in 2014, it was in operation more aircrafts, while operating costs reached 121.1 million euros against 103 million euros in 2015. Despite the increase in costs in the amount of 8 million euros, a fleet of 27 aircraft CASA CN-235 showed a drop in the percentage of serviceable 3% in 2015 (up 52.3%). But it is two times better than that of 14 Lockheed C-130H (26,2%).

In 2014, the percentage of this type of aircraft serviceable reached 28.8%, and the park expenses were 40.8 million euros, 15 million more than in 2015. The situation should fundamentally improve soon - in 2016 signed a contract for the modernization of 14 C-130H, with eight of them must meet the requirements of special operations forces and their delivery will be carried out in 2019-2025.

Serviceability of the four airplanes AWACS E-3F AWACS in 2015 was only 36.35% against 46.7% a year earlier. Without a doubt, explain the decline in the modernization of the aircraft.

In respect of UAVs, in particular, the MQ-9 Reaper, serviceability is maintained at a high level - more than 86%, but the costs have gone up by 3.5 times - up to 8.5 million euros against 2.4 million euros. Harfang UAV passed small modernization, after which the serviceability rose to 62.85 from 60.7%, despite a decline in operating costs by almost € 2 million.

Finally, the maintenance of 14 aircraft-refueling C-135FR as always is very expensive, the amount of expenses increased by EUR 6.9 million. But the result is difficult to estimate - level of serviceability classified.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2275298.html

Combat ready in less than 6 hours... that would make our availability rate single digits. Maintaining rates over 40% at that level is amazing.

Vladimir79 wrote:Combat ready in less than 6 hours... that would make our availability rate single digits.  Maintaining rates over 40% at that level is amazing.

Term "mind blowing" is better suited.

By this criteria Serbian army has availability rate of... well... 0%.

France buys 17 Pilatus PC-21 training aircraft

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2359922.html

George1 wrote:France buys 17 Pilatus PC-21 training aircraft

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2359922.html

So they are going to the same pilot training program the VKS is going to. A modern turboprop trainer followed by an advanced jet trainer.

franco wrote:

George1 wrote:France buys 17 Pilatus PC-21 training aircraft

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2359922.html

So they are going to the same pilot training program the VKS is going to. A modern turboprop trainer followed by an advanced jet trainer.

Which turboprop in VKS are you refering to O.o? There is no turboprop in VKS... Yak-152 is priston powered.

The first RS-21 airplane for the French Air Force

As reported by the spotter, on July 10, 2017, Pilatus PC-21, the first built for the French Air Force turboprop training aircraft Pilot PC-21 (serial number "01", serial number 293, registration number 709-F), made the first flight at the enterprise of the Swiss company Pilatus Aircraft in Buox near Stans. FC, temporary Swiss registration of HB-HVA). It is also reported that during the second flight on July 13 the aircraft was demonstrated by the delegation of the Ministry of Defense and the French Air Force.



http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2730244.html

The first Airbus A330 MRTT tanker for France

According to the Airbus group, on September 7, 2017, the first Air France A330 MRTT (French official name Phénix) refueling aircraft was built for the first time by the Airbus A330 MRTT (French official name Phénix) from the Madrid airfield Getafe in Spain. In Getafe, there is the Airbus Defense and Space unit, which is converting to MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) aircraft of A330-200 aircraft built at the Airbus headquarter in Toulouse, France. The first A330 MRTT for the French Air Force has the serial number 1735.



https://bmpd.livejournal.com/2836748.html

The first C-130J aircraft for the French Air Force

The American corporation Lockheed Martin distributed photos of the rolling out on October 20, 2017 at its company in Marietta, Georgia, the first medium military transport aircraft C-130J-30 Super Hercules built for the French Air Force (serial number 5836, French number 61-RO).







https://bmpd.livejournal.com/2907060.html