French Tankers

摘要

When the French nuclear deterrence force was created on January 14, 1964, the Armee de I'Air (French Air Force) subsequently became one of the world's first tanker operators. The desire to procure tankers arose when President Charles de Gaulle decided that France would design and build an indigenous strategic bomber, the Dassault Mirage IV. This led to a requirement for strategic tankers as the range of the new aircraft would not be sufficient to reach potential target areas in the then Soviet Union. It called for a multirole aircraft that could also undertake the long-range transport mission.