The Quest for Relevant Air Power

112 │ French Air Force
How Has the French Air Force
Responded to the New Intellectualism in
Air Power Thinking and Doctrine?
French airmen in the interwar years had a culture of in-depth
debate on air power theory, which found expression in several air
power journals. 173 To underline the importance of an independent
air force, for instance, the concepts of the Italian general Giulio
Douhet were discussed widely. 174
Following WWII, in 1947 the FAF published its first air power
doctrine, the Instruction provisoire pour l’emploi des forces aériennes
(Provisional Instruction for the Employment of the Air Force).
Though the publication had only provisional status, it caused tensions
with the Army and with the joint chief of staff, who was not
informed before its release. Moreover, putting a premium upon
the distinct use of air power, it stood in stark contrast to the FAF’s
operations in Indochina and Algeria, where it primarily played a
supporting role. 175 The postwar years were further characterised
by a lively debate on air power, which found expression in periodicals
such as Forces aériennes françaises (French Aerial Forces),
published from 1946 until 1973 and serving as a platform for doctrinal
ideas and views upon military strategy. 176 This conventional
air power debate was largely superseded by nuclear doctrine from
the late 1950s onwards. 177
In the post–Cold War era, a renaissance of the conventional
air power debate has been taking place. It is this debate, rather
than formal air power doctrine, which characterises French air
power thinking.
Air Power Doctrine
Since the end of the Cold War, there have been two failed attempts
at formalising an official French air power doctrine—the
first in 1998 and the second in 2003. A 2006 French study argues
that these failures reveal the lack of an institutionalised doctrinal
process within the FAF. 178 A third attempt resulted in an air power
doctrine, the Concept de l’Armée de l’Air (Concept of the FAF), published
in September 2008.