These days, the actions of armed forces take place in a complex geostrategic context, where frequently the defence of vital interests remains at the heart of the doctrine for their use. France, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, naturally participates in achieving world stability and in many multinational operations, whose objectives are the maintenance and/or the imposition of peace. The French armed forces are, de facto, engaged in conflicts characterised at present by their moderate level of intensity and the variety of the belligerents’ modes of action.

These ‘asymmetric’ conflicts call for a military response that is appropriate, measured, legitimate and acceptable to public opinion. The Air Force offers political decision-makers faced with these challenges a range of decisive or complementary capabilities. It provides an overwhelming majority of the types of activity encountered in a theatre of operations. It also enables a strong political signal to be sent, while ensuring the flexibility, adjustability and reversibility of its engagement. Finally, the men and women of the Air Force may be called upon to fight within joint service or international coalitions, from the level of command structures down to that of patrols engaged in combat.

Recent operations in Central Asia and Africa demonstrate the pertinence of the use of modern aerospace power in low-intensity conflict, to guarantee the success of stabilisation and security operations, and in assistance operations to populations (Hurricane Katrina in the United States, the Indonesian tsunami, the Pakistani earthquake, etc.).