Canadair controversy: Attal rejects Mélenchon’s accusations, but the documents confirm the budgetary shortfall

Paris – 16 July 2026: The dispute over the renewal of France’s firefighting aircraft fleet has escalated between Gabriel Attal and Jean-Luc Melenchon. The former prime minister rejects accusations that his government prevented the purchase of two additional Canadair aircraft. Melenchon has distorted the truth, Attal declared during a television appearance on 15 July. He cited that two new aircraft had been ordered during his term in office.

This statement is only partially correct. The state contract to purchase two DHC-515 amphibious firefighting aircraft was in fact signed in August 2024, when Attal was still head of government. According to the government and Canadian contractual partner, the aircraft are to be delivered in 2028. They are part of the European civil protection programme rescEU, a mechanism for joint procurement and mutual support with response resources.

However, the focus of the dispute lies in an earlier budget decision. Decree No. 2024-124 of 21 February 2024 removed €52.7 million in payment appropriations from the civil security programme. The decree did not specifically mention individual aircraft. Nevertheless, a Senate budget report from November 2024 stated that these cuts forced the Directorate-General for Civil Security and Crisis Management to abandon plans to order two Canadair aircraft.

A parliamentary inquiry in 2025 also reached this conclusion regarding the connection. The Directorate-General for Civil Security confirmed to several media outlets that these savings prevented the purchase of two additional aircraft. Attal’s team, meanwhile, argued that the spending reduction was part of an overall expenditure adjustment and was not directed specifically at any individual contract. Politically, this argument only limits the former prime minister’s responsibility to a limited extent: the budget decision and the abandonment of the purchase option have a demonstrable connection.

The conflict is further deepened by two different procurement processes. Attal can refer to the two DHC-515s whose binding order was placed in 2024; Melenchon refers to two additional aircraft that had been planned for funding but were removed after budget cuts. The original political objective following the severe wildfires of 2022 was much more ambitious: President Emmanuel Macron had announced plans at the time to renew the fleet of twelve Canadair aircraft and add four more aircraft.

Two additional DHC-515s have now been included in the 2026 civil security budget, provided the budget law is adopted in this form. However, they are not expected to be delivered until late 2032 or 2033. The debate therefore reveals a structural problem: short-term budget decisions and extremely long production and delivery times clash. Consequently, alongside the Canadairs, the importance of Dash aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, as well as leased helicopters and firefighting aircraft, remains central to wildfire response capabilities.