Although its retirement was announced for a while for 2005, the C-160 Transall is still the principal lynchpin of French military air transport. More than forty years after it went into service, this twin-engined tactical transport has been present in all the theaters of operation where the French army has been deployed, not to mention the numerous humanitarian operations which have taken it all over the globe.

Handled with dexterity by its crews, the Transall is always impressive when it's a question of getting down to the nitty-gritty and showing some muscle in the most unlikely situations, but for how much longer now? It is not wise to ignore the potential difficulties and dangers of using worn-out and aging aircraft in combat in spite of all its qualities.