The hypothesis of the Dassault Falcon 10X for the French Patmar is more than attractive

During her hearing by the Defense Committee of the National Assembly, Joëlle Barre, the General Delegate for Armaments, indicated that following the order for 5 P8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft from Boeing by Germany to replace part of its exhausted Orion P3Cs, France should re-evaluate its participation in the Franco-German Maritime Airborne Warfare System, or MAWS, program, which should precisely allow the two countries to replace their maritime patrol aircraft Atlantic 2 and Orion by 2035, based on cooperation between Airbus and Thales. Falcon business jet currently in development at Dassault Aviation. These announcements, and the indiscretions collected by the always very well informed Michel Cabirol of latribune.fr , mark profound developments, both in the field of Franco-German cooperation in the defense industry, as well as concerning future capabilities including will inform the French Navy regarding its maritime patrol, as well as the role that the future Falcon 10X could well play within the French air and naval forces in the years to come. They also offer promising prospects in many areas, whether industrial, operational or political.

First of all, this announcement by Joël Barre constitutes in many aspects a clear break with the French posture in its industrial cooperation with Germany concerning Defense issues. Not only is Paris warning of its very probable withdrawal from the MAWS program in the short term, but it is doing so indirectly, precisely in the same way as that applied by Berlin regarding the acquisition of its P8As , of which the French authorities have been informed by press. This undoubtedly marks a certain form of exasperation and a deep perceptible annoyance on the part of the French authorities towards Germany, both concerning the MAWS program and the other programs undertaken. Thus, Jöel Barre suggested, during the same hearing, that France would certainly take the initiative to move forward alone in the Tiger 3 program relating to the modernization of Tiger combat helicopters, while Germany continues to this file of playing for time, and that it would have solicited, here too, Boeing and the American FMS for an offer relating to Apache AH-64E helicopters, even if, in these files, the faults are obviously shared and the disparate perceptions depending on whether you are German or French .

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