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It's OK, France delivers. France will go to where the war is; which is a lot harder than it sounds. There are very few nations in the world capable of sustained

It's OK, France delivers. France will go to where the war is; which is a lot harder than it sounds. There are very few nations in the world capable of sustained, global, serious power projection, and France is one of them.

zabzonk 6y ago
What, with one ageing aircraft carrier?
- EliRivers 6y ago
  If needs be. They ran a ferocious pace of sorties for an extended period from off the coast of Libya a bit under a decade ago, and since then it's not exactly been sitting on the sidelines; the aircraft, the carrier, the weapons and the logistics. That experience is still present in the personnel, the carrier is still operational, they've still got the air power to go with it. Basically, yes. They can and will. That's real, proven, global power projection. The number of other countries in the world capable of that can be counted on the fingers of one hand. What, with one ageing aircraft carrier? The way you ask that question suggests that the answer should be "no"; but it's not. The answer is "yes".
  - zabzonk 6y ago
    > That's real, proven, global power projection No, it isn't. Libya is just across the Med from France, not in the Pacific. > The number of other countries in the world capable of that can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Well, really on one finger.
    - EliRivers 6y ago
      Libya is just across the Med from France, not in the Pacific. They didn't walk the resupply over. They have ships, they have friendly nations, they have the financing to purchase what they need, they have a real logistics organisation capable of resupplying globally. How inconvenient for this discussion that Libya wasn't on the other side of the planet, but there it is. Well, really on one finger. This is incorrect. Perhaps you're thinking of the USA, which is an order of magnitude more capable than any other. They are not, however, the only nation capable of delivering sustained global power projection.
    - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
      Is Great Britain and the Falklands global enough for you?
      - zabzonk 6y ago
        No. A very local war against a 3rd world country who almost beat us. A few more Exocet strikes and the task force would have been out of the game. If we now went to war using our bloated and incompetently designed new carrier, against a 2nd world power (say Russia, China, or even, dare I say it France) the thing would be at the bottom of the ocean in short order.
      - medium_burrito 6y ago
        Britain has nowhere near the capabilities it had back then it terms of logistics (ie ships taken up from trade). Moreover, they are getting rid of a huge amount of airlift: https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/c-130-hercules-fleet-to-be-retired/ https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/c-130-hercules-fleet-to-be-r... Even for Falklands conflict, they barely managed to win, and that was with assistance from their friends vis-a-vis missile codes, satellite imagery, etc.
- programLyrique 6y ago
  A new one is planned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_French_aircraft_carrier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_French_aircraft_carrier
  - zabzonk 6y ago
    > will enter service in 2038; the year the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is due to be retired. So they end up with one, again, if they even build it. Even the UK can do better than that, though admittedly the French carriers are at least notionally more capable than the crap Gordon Brown foisted on us.
    - doe88 6y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_military_bases_of_France https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_military_bases_of_Fra...
- touisteur 6y ago
  It's not like you really need the aircraft carrier to bomb in the Mediterranean...
touisteur 6y ago
All this might explain the recent acute interest in French frigates or aircraft, even second hand, from Egypt and Greece...

zabzonk 6y ago

What, with one ageing aircraft carrier?

EliRivers 6y ago
If needs be. They ran a ferocious pace of sorties for an extended period from off the coast of Libya a bit under a decade ago, and since then it's not exactly been sitting on the sidelines; the aircraft, the carrier, the weapons and the logistics. That experience is still present in the personnel, the carrier is still operational, they've still got the air power to go with it. Basically, yes. They can and will. That's real, proven, global power projection. The number of other countries in the world capable of that can be counted on the fingers of one hand. What, with one ageing aircraft carrier? The way you ask that question suggests that the answer should be "no"; but it's not. The answer is "yes".
- zabzonk 6y ago
  > That's real, proven, global power projection No, it isn't. Libya is just across the Med from France, not in the Pacific. > The number of other countries in the world capable of that can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Well, really on one finger.
  - EliRivers 6y ago
    Libya is just across the Med from France, not in the Pacific. They didn't walk the resupply over. They have ships, they have friendly nations, they have the financing to purchase what they need, they have a real logistics organisation capable of resupplying globally. How inconvenient for this discussion that Libya wasn't on the other side of the planet, but there it is. Well, really on one finger. This is incorrect. Perhaps you're thinking of the USA, which is an order of magnitude more capable than any other. They are not, however, the only nation capable of delivering sustained global power projection.
  - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
    Is Great Britain and the Falklands global enough for you?
    - zabzonk 6y ago
      No. A very local war against a 3rd world country who almost beat us. A few more Exocet strikes and the task force would have been out of the game. If we now went to war using our bloated and incompetently designed new carrier, against a 2nd world power (say Russia, China, or even, dare I say it France) the thing would be at the bottom of the ocean in short order.
    - medium_burrito 6y ago
      Britain has nowhere near the capabilities it had back then it terms of logistics (ie ships taken up from trade). Moreover, they are getting rid of a huge amount of airlift: https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/c-130-hercules-fleet-to-be-retired/ https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/c-130-hercules-fleet-to-be-r... Even for Falklands conflict, they barely managed to win, and that was with assistance from their friends vis-a-vis missile codes, satellite imagery, etc.
programLyrique 6y ago
A new one is planned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_French_aircraft_carrier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_French_aircraft_carrier
- zabzonk 6y ago
  > will enter service in 2038; the year the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is due to be retired. So they end up with one, again, if they even build it. Even the UK can do better than that, though admittedly the French carriers are at least notionally more capable than the crap Gordon Brown foisted on us.
  - doe88 6y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_military_bases_of_France https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_military_bases_of_Fra...
touisteur 6y ago
It's not like you really need the aircraft carrier to bomb in the Mediterranean...

touisteur 6y ago

All this might explain the recent acute interest in French frigates or aircraft, even second hand, from Egypt and Greece...