Judged from the perspective of military history, the French Air Force appears as a mere adolescent compared with the Army and the Navy. It is in this phase of life, so prone to change, that we should probably look for the main reason which has motivated the Air Force to embark on a comprehensive transformation of its command and control structures. This youngest of the forces has demonstrated real enthusiasm for remodelling its organisation, going so far as to question principles which are a part of military history, such as the idea of air regions.

Nevertheless, far from being a straightforward quest for originality, the ‘AIR 2010’ reforms are based on a development which stems from the ministerial strategy for reform: the passage from a logic of resources to one of results.

The staff work for AIR 2010 is being completed and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is pursuing a series of major studies led by the Chief of Defence Staff (CEMA),⁽¹⁾ the Secretary-General for Administration (SGA),⁽²⁾ and the Controller-General of the Armed Forces (CGA)⁽³⁾ aimed at rationalising the organisation of the Armed Forces, notably by a greater commonality of resources. At such a juncture it should be emphasised that this transformation of the Air Force is totally open to the inter-service changes to come. In fact, the professional logic on which it is based favours the joint service approach, by bringing together the human and technical resources which contribute to a common capability through the use of similar or even identical capabilities.