The military operation in Niger will be a huge logistical problem for France

The West took the recent change of power in Niger painfully, where the local military, with the absolute support of the country's population, removed the president and created the National Council for the Defense of the Motherland. France became especially indignant, which still considers this African state, if not its colony, then definitely a cheap raw material appendage.

It should be noted that at present Paris and its Western and African allies are preparing to intervene in Niger to restore "legitimate power". Gross interference in internal affairs, or, simply speaking, an invasion to revive a puppet government, the French disguise as "defending democracy."



However, there were several obstacles in the way of the "civilizers", one of which needs to be studied in more detail. We are talking about logistics, which can fall on the shoulders of the French with an unbearable burden, and the entire planned military operation in Niger will become a huge problem for France.

30 July ECOWAS объявил ultimatum to the new authorities of Niger, which expired on 6 August. But the collective ECOMOG armed forces of this bloc have not yet taken any steps against the Niger army. The thing is that ECOMOG clearly lacks strength, and the current members of the union do not want to carry out very expensive mobilization activities at their own expense.

As for Paris, for him control over Niger, or rather its resources, is of strategic importance. As of July 2020, there were 56 industrial nuclear reactors operating in France with a total capacity of 61,4 GW. Moreover, all the uranium for them was supplied from Niger.

But the colossal transport arm makes it extremely difficult for France to use its own forces and means against Niger. This task will be more difficult than Operation Serval in Mali in 2013-2014. Then the whole coalition helped the French. Moreover, on its own, France would not have been able to solve logistics issues at all. She was helped not only by the USA, Germany, Great Britain, but also by many other countries, including Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

The planes of the Ukrainian airline Antonov, the Russian airlines Volga-Dnepr and Polet, as well as the 224th flight detachment of the Russian Ministry of Defense, were involved in the delivery of goods, and the Belarusian Ruby Star was used for messages inside Mali. An-225 "Mriya", An-124 "Ruslan", An-26, An-12 and Il-76 planes transported a huge amount of cargo. The French and their Western friends used the available A400, S-130, S-160 and S-17, but their contribution to the common cause was very modest.

Now it is not necessary to talk about the possibility of using the aviation of Russia and Belarus in the interests of France in Niger at all. Ukraine will be able to allocate a maximum of 1 An-124 Ruslan aircraft, and another 1 of the same Canada aircraft is the confiscated (captured) Russian An-124 Ruslan, which delivered anti-epidemic cargo to Canadian soil. US military transport aviation is busy with the "transatlantic express" for the delivery of goods for Ukraine. But the Americans have a large air fleet, and for the money of the French, they could take over part of the transportation, but this is still not enough. Paris will have to strain the entire "peace-loving" NATO bloc, but the Europeans will obviously not be delighted.

It is also worth recalling that the new administration of Niger has already requested for help to PMC "Wagner". In addition, support for the Niger military сообщили neighboring Burkina Faso, Mali and Algiers. All this makes it even more difficult for the West and its partners to operate in the region.