Britain prepares to send military helicopters for French campaign against Islamists in Sahel

Britain will send military helicopters to join a French campaign against Islamist extremists in Africa as London and Paris move to deepen cross-Channel defence ties, the Prime Minister is expected to announce later this week.

RAF Chinooks have been offered to transport French troops in discussions ahead of a Franco-British summit on the military, security, space research and immigration.

Talks at Sandhurst will see Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron agree closer cooperation on fighting al Qaeda linked militants “at source” in north Africa.

The French president on Tuesday also said he will demand Mrs May take more responsibility for the refugee crisis as he vowed there would be no return of the so-called "jungle" migrant camp in Calais.

Around 4,000 French troops are waging a cross-border counter-terrorism campaign throughout the southern Sahara, with forces deployed to back local governments in Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso.

Whitehall sources said Britain had offered the transport aircraft to make up for shortfalls in French helicopter numbers.

RAF C-17 cargo planes helped transport French armoured vehicles to Mali in 2013 when the French first began their military campaign against Islamist rebels.

Britain and France have stepped up joint exercises and exchange programmes since the Lancaster House agreement of 2010.

Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the two were the only European nations to retain “combat cultures” and an appetite to take military action.

He said: “Of Europe’s largest military powers, only France and UK still seem to have the culture and capability for both expeditionary operations and to use lethal force.”

The UK decision to provide extra support to France in the Sahel is seen by UK strategists as emblematic of France’s desire to create serious ‘European’ joint military capabilities - even if these are outside the orbit of the EU itself.

The idea was first proposed by Mr Macron in his major speech on Europe at Sorbonne last September when the French president proposed a “European intervention initiative”, without providing much more than generalities.

Inviting European armed forces to engage in deep exchange programmes, Mr Macron said that  Europe needs “to establish a common intervention force, a common defence budget and a common doctrine for action”.

UK sources said it was now clear that the French vision for such a “European” force existed outside the Brussels institutions, opening the door to a much deeper strategic partnership after Brexit.

“Macron is pragmatic and realises that Britain is the only nation that is prepared to do some of these things,” said one military source.

The French idea of creating a militarily capable European intervention force risks over-shadowing the EU’s recent new defence initiative, which saw 25 member states sign up to PESCO - or “permanently structured cooperation”.

The size of the members represented German demands that PESCO should be “inclusive”, rather than militarily ambitious, contrary to French desires for Europe to actually be able to project force independently.

The British have also lobbied the French hard to ensure that Brexit and PESCO does not shut UK defence contractors out of the European research and development market.

“The French are sticklers for the rules at EU level, but outside that this week will show they are moving towards a much less Brussels-centric view of operations,” the source added. “The model is still nationally based and the French clearly value the contribution the UK can make.”

Speaking in an aircraft hangar in Calais on Tuesday, Mr Macron said he would use the summit to demand Britain pay more to deal with the migrant crisis.

He also attacked "certain organisations" for spreading "lies" - referring to volunteers and charities accused of encouraging migrants to enter Britain illegally, and of fabricating claims of police brutality against them.   Such groups were "far too great in number" and were "harmful to our collective effectiveness," Mr Macron said. "In 48 hours, I will raise the issues of unaccompanied child migrants, police cooperation and the release of new funds," he added.