A high-quality short film of the French Air Force showing its capabilities

The Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Army) is the aerospace branch of the Armed Forces of the French Republic.

The 'hole' without civil flights around Paris during the opening of the Olympic Games
A flight of a French Rafale fighter in Denmark demonstrating its extreme maneuverability

This air force is one of the most powerful in Europe and one of the few with nuclear capabilities. Yesterday, Airborne Films, a production company known for its excellent aviation videos (shot in 8K quality), released an excellent two-minute short film showing some of the capabilities of the French Air Force. As usual in their productions, it is a high-quality video, with images worthy of a film:

The video was directed by Eric Magnan, with music by Augustin Saldjian. Here are some details of the French Air Force shown in this short.

A Dassault Rafale fighter, in this case its two-seat training version. It is currently the backbone of French air defence (along with the Mirage 2000), with 100 fighters in service and a total of 185 on order.

A General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper UAV. France operates 12 of these drones, which are especially used for surveillance and reconnaissance tasks, but also have attack capabilities.

A Composite Spatial Optical (CSO) satellite. France has two satellites of this type, dedicated to reconnaissance work.

An Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft on a night flight. France operates 24 of these aircraft and expects to receive 26 more. These aircraft have transport and in-flight refuelling capabilities.

An Airbus A330 MRTT. France has 12 of these aircraft and is expecting to receive 3 more. They are known as the "Phénix" in the French Air Force. They can be used as transport aircraft, airborne command and control, and aerial refueling.

An Airbus Helicopters H225M Caracal. Initially designated the EC725, it is a medium transport helicopter developed from the Eurocopter AS532 Cougar, the military version of the famous Super Puma helicopter. The French Air Force has 10 of these aircraft already in operation and expects to receive a total of 36 units.

Two Airbus Helicopters H125M Fennec. Initially manufactured as the Aérospatiale AS555, this light helicopter is a development of the famous French AS350 Écureuil helicopter. The French Air Force has 40 units. In service since 1990, they are already scheduled to be replaced by the Airbus H160M Guépard.

Operators of the Commando Parachutiste de l'Air No 10 (CPA 10). This is the special operations unit of the French Air Force and the French equivalent of the Spanish EZAPAC. This unit was formed on June 1, 1956 and is specialized in counterterrorism, special reconnaissance, asymmetric warfare and combat rescues. It is based in Orleans. In the video we see them making a HAHO (high altitude high opening) jump from an A400M.

I end this article with the image of airmen in parade uniform during a dagger-giving ceremony that appears at the end of the video. Unlike other Western air forces, the Armée de l'Air uses rank symbols and a very marine-looking uniform, with a white-topped peaked cap and Louise blue uniform. Until 1929, the French Air Force had used the famous kepi as headgear.