France expects by late September to strengthen its support to NATO's International Security Assistance Force by relocating six of its air force Dassault Mirage strike and reconnaissance aircraft from Dushanbe air base in Tajikistan to Afghanistan's Kandahar airfield.
Announced by president Nicolas Sarkozy, the decision will see three Mirage 2000Ds and three Mirage F1s move from their current location in an attempt to provide more immediate cover to French and ISAF troops in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces. "This redeployment reinforces the operational effectiveness of the fighters by reducing transit times to the zone of engagement," says the French defence ministry.
Paris will meanwhile maintain a detachment of two C160 Transall transports at Dushanbe and two Boeing C-135 tanker/transports at Manas air base in Krygyzstan.
Source: Flight International
