Passion

Book. “The French Air Force and its Challenges”

Since its creation in 1934, the French Air Force has faced many obstacles. The late General Forget wrote a tribute telling us about these.

Since its creation in 1934, the French Air Force has faced many obstacles. The late General Forget wrote a tribute telling us about these.

In this clear and candid work published last year, the Air Force General Michel Forget provides a retrospective of the French Air Force (now the Air and Space Force), in a direct style. The author died in October 2020, aged 93.

Organization, restructuring, command methods… Accustomed to giving accounts of his experiences as a fighter pilot or to reflecting on the defense of France, in this work, Forget tells the story of the “Third Army”, which was initially a branch of the French Army before it became independent.

To do this, he contextualizes the geopolitical and economic changes that influenced choices about techniques, equipment, and external operations, with the help of various illustrations (tables or maps). While emphasizing the constants that have always come with French policy, particularly regarding nuclear deterrence, he also describes the reluctance surrounding the creation of the Air Force, and the distrust towards it in the 1980s.
This account demonstrates that the path of the French Air Force has not always been smooth. Yet it is now the largest air force in Europe, and one of the best in the world, well known for the caliber of its people and planes…

Book. “L’armée de l’Air face à ses épreuves” by Michel Forget. Editions Economica. EAN: 978-2717871296