AW&ST:With forces deployed overseas in the Middle East and Central Africa, can you give us an idea of the tempo of operations for the French Air Force at present? The French Air Force is very busy, not only with operations abroad, but also at home with the protection of our airspace and the nuclear-deterrence mission. For example, in air-policing, we have 20 aircraft and helicopters on alert at our air bases in France at all times, We're also addressing the new threat of drones. As well as supporting NATO reassurance measures, we're planning in 2020 to aid in Baltic air-policing with Mirages in Estonia, proceeding with flights with AWACS and for intelligence-gathering. This year's NATO Tiger Meet [held in Mont-de-Marsan, France, in May] was focused on anti-access, area-denial challenges that we have met in the Levant. We are performing this exercise not only with fighters, but with helicopters, transports, ground-based air defenses and jamming. In the Middle East, our aircraft are flying from Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The [Islamic State group] territorial caliphate is gone, but the job is ongoing, and we continue to work with the coalition for which it has been an important effort since 2014.
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