The Quest for Relevant Air Power

92 │ French Air Force
latter was planned to be equipped with 60 Rafale multirole combat
aircraft. 59 The military planning law for 2009–14 announces the
procurement of 80 Tigre combat helicopters and 130 modern
transport helicopters for the Army air wing. 60 These figures reveal
that the French armed forces emphasise air power far beyond the
slightly less than 30 per cent FAF budget allocation.
With regard to the relevance of the FAF in real operations, interesting
evolutions have taken place in the post–Cold War era.
During the 1990–91 Gulf crisis, the FAF’s mission was originally
conceived to be purely defensive. As well as contributing to the
defence of Saudi airspace, its main mission was to cover the action
of the French Army division Daguet. 61 Hence, air power was considered
to be a mere adjunct to the manoeuvre of ground forces.
Only later did Mitterrand decide that the FAF was to take on its
share of the coalition air campaign. In the Balkans, the weight
given to air versus land power was more balanced. While the
Army excelled by its robust commitment to ground operations in
Bosnia—making France the political and military leader of the
United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR)—the FAF took
on a major European role in NATO’s air campaigns over Bosnia. 62
The forward-deployed forces in Africa have been inherently integrated.
63 With the Army providing the bulk of personnel, the FAF
has been a crucial strategic enabler, given the large distances in
Africa. As portrayed in the next section, French contributions at
the upper force spectrum in Kosovo and later in Afghanistan primarily
relied upon air power. The FAF has gradually gained importance
throughout the post–Cold War era and now can be regarded
on a par with its sister services in deployed operations.
Regarding nuclear deterrence, while the maritime component
with its nuclear submarines is the most powerful and survivable
component, the strategic air component is considered useful for
political signalling due to its visible and reversible deployment. 64
Hence, the FAF continues to play an important role in this arena.
Alliance Context
France’s alliance policy of the post–Cold War era has been considerably
marked by its Gaullist heritage. Autonomy and independence
in decision making have remained cornerstones of French
foreign and defence policy. Yet the end of bipolarity, which had