Military Wiki
Military Wiki
Aéronavale
French Naval Aviation
Sigle Aéronavale
Founded 1910
Country France
Size 181 aircraft
Part of French Navy
Insignia
Roundels Roundel of the French Fleet Air Arm
Marine Nationale
Naval Ensign of France
Motto: Honneur, Patrie, Valeur, Discipline
(“Honour, Homeland, Valour, Discipline”)
Command
Naval Ministers
Maritime Prefect
Components
Force d'action navale
Forces sous-marines (FOST, ESNA)
Aviation navale
FORFUSCO (Commandos Marine, Fusiliers Marins)
Gendarmerie Maritime
Equipment
Current fleet
Current deployments
Personnel
Ranks in the French Navy
History
History of the French Navy
Future of the French Navy
Ensigns and pennants
Historic ships

   battleships
   cruisers
   ships of the line
   Sail frigates

Historic fleets
Awards
Croix de guerre
Médaille militaire
Légion d'honneur
Ribbons

French Naval Aviation (French: Aéronavale) is the naval air arm of the French Navy. Born as a fusion of carrier squadrons and naval patrol air force, the Aviation navale was created on the 19 June 1998. The headquarters is under command of an admiral (ALAVIA) in Toulon naval base. The French Naval Aviation has a strength of around 6,800 civilian and military personnel. They operate from four airbases in Metropolitan France and several detachments in foreign countries or French overseas territories. Carrier-borne pilots of the French navy do their initial training at Salon-de-Provence Air Base.

Aircraft[]

Complete and correct as of 1 September 2013.

Aircraft Photo Origin Role Version Quantity[1] Note
Fixed-wing aircraft
Grumman E-2 Hawkeye FS CdG Super Hawkeye United States AEW&C E-2C 3
Dassault Rafale Rafale 070412-N-8157C-542 Flag of France France Multirole combat aircraft F1
F3
10
22
12 on order.
Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard CdG-photo173 Flag of France France Strike aircraft 25 To be retired by 2015.
Atlantique II Breguet.atlantic.6112.fronton.arp Flag of France France Maritime patrol 22
Dassault Falcon 20 Gardian Flag of France France Surveillance, reconnaissance 5
Dassault Falcon 50M Dassault.falcon.50m.fairford.arp Flag of France France Surveillance, reconnaissance 5 3 more to be delivered.
Dassault Falcon 10MER Falcon 10 MER Flag of France France Communications & Transport aircraft 6
Embraer EMB 121 Xingu EMB-121 marine Flag of Brazil Brazil Transport aircraft & Trainer aircraft A
A1
9
2
Mudry CAP 10 CAP-10 Marine-Tours-2008 Flag of France France Trainer aircraft ?
Cirrus SR20 Cirrus.sr20.g-cdly.arp United States Trainer aircraft 3
Helicopters
Westland Lynx Lynx helo 2 Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom Maritime helicopter Mk.2 (FN) 22
NH90 Caiman Decollage NH90 Flag of France France Maritime helicopter
Search and rescue
1
7
19 more on order.
Eurocopter AS565 Panther Panther-051306-N-9546C-001 Flag of France France Maritime helicopter SA 16 Panther is the military version of the Dauphin
Eurocopter SA 365 Dauphin FS CdG Dauphin Flag of France France Search and rescue F-1
N
N3
3
6
2
Eurocopter EC225 20100717 EC225 3 Flag of France France Search and rescue 2
Aérospatiale Alouette III Alouette 3 2 Flag of France France Utility aircraft SA316B
SA316 B VSV
SA319B
22
UAVs
Schiebel S-100 Serval Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-100 Flag of Austria Austria Surveillance 1

Structure[]

Bases d aeronautique navale en 2009

active bases of the French naval air arm (status 2009).

Units[]

Operational squadrons are known as Flotilles and normal consist of 12 aircraft:

  • 1F to 10F are carrier based anti-submarine squadrons
    • 4F operates the E-2C Hawkeye from Lann Bihoue
  • 11F to 20F are fighter and attack squadrons
    • 11F operates the Rafale M based at Landivisiau[2]
    • 12F operates the Rafale M based at Landivisiau
    • 17F operates the Super Etendard at Landivisiau (flottille 17F)
  • 21F to 30F are maritime patrol squadrons
    • 21F operates the Atlantic 2 from Lann Bihoue with detachments at Dakar and Djibouti
    • 23F operates the Atlantic 2 from Lann Bihoue
    • 24F operates the Falcon 50 and Xingu from Lann Bihoue
    • 25F operates the Falcon 200 Guardian from Tahiti with a detachment at Nouméa
    • 28F operates the Xingu from Lann Bihoue
  • 31F to 39F are helicopter squadrons
    • 31F operates the Westland Lynx from Hyeres will change to the NH90 in 2010
    • 32F operates the EC225 from Lanvéoc
    • 33F operates the NH90 from Hyeres
    • 34F operates the Lynx from Lanvéoc
    • 35F operates Dauphin helicopters from Hyeres with detachments at Cherbourg, La Rochelle, Le Touquet/Paris-Plage and Tahiti
    • 36F operates the Panther from Hyeres

Shore-based training and transport squadrons are known as Escadrilles de Servitude:

  • 1S to 19S are communications squadrons
    • 10S is an experimental unit bases at Hyeres
  • 20S to 29S are helicopters squadrons
    • 22S operates the Alouette III from Lanvéoc
  • 50S to 59S are training squadrons
    • 50S operates the SR20 and CAP-10 from Lanvéoc
    • 57S operates the Falcon 10M from Landivisiau

Components[]

The French Naval Aviation has four components:

Gallery[]

Former Aéronavale aircraft[]

References[]

External links[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at French Naval Aviation and the edit history here.