Overview
- Official parliamentary and senatorial reports say the government cut about €52 million in February 2024 from the civil security budget, a move those reports tie to the decision not to order two Canadair water-bombers.
- Gabriel Attal and his allies counter that his administration secured the only recent Canadair orders but could only contractualize two planes because production had stopped, a claim that points to industrial limits rather than pure budget choice.
- The two aircraft contracted in 2024 are part of the European RescUE procurement programme and their promised deliveries, first set for 2027, are already slipping toward 2028 while other CL-515 lines show deliveries as late as 2032–2033.
- France currently fields about twelve Canadair with an average age near 30 years plus eight Dash planes and leased craft to reach roughly forty assets, but officials warn this ageing fleet and delayed new deliveries create real shortfalls during record 2026 wildfires.
- The dispute has become a focal point in the presidential campaign with opposition leaders using the budget cut to demand clearer national procurement plans and proposals for a French or European-made firefighting aircraft as a longer-term industrial solution.