French Naval Aviation

French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: Aéronavale, or Aviation navale, or more simply l'Aéro) is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is Force maritime de l'aéronautique navale. Born as a fusion of carrier squadrons and the naval patrol air force, the Aéronavale was created in 1912. The force is under the command of a flag officer officially named Admiral of Naval Aviation (ALAVIA) with his headquarters at Toulon naval base. It has a strength of around 6,800 military and civilian personnel. It operates 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 after which they undergo their carrier qualification with the US Navy.

French Naval Aviation
Force maritime de l'aéronautique navale
Founded1912
Country France
Branch French Navy
TypeNaval aviation
Size6,800 personnel; 178 aircraft[1][2]
Nickname(s)Sky Navy
La Marine du Ciel
Motto(s)Honneur, patrie, valeur, discipline
AnniversariesMarch 20, 1912
Commanders
Current
commander		Contre-amiral Guillaume Goutay
Insignia
Roundel
French Navy
(Marine Nationale)
Naval Ensign of France
Motto: Honneur, Patrie, Valeur, Discipline
("Honour, Homeland, Valour, Discipline")
Command
Naval Ministers
Maritime Prefect
Components
Naval Action Force
Submarine Forces
Naval Aviation
FORFUSCO (Marine Commandos, Naval Fusiliers)
Maritime Gendarmerie
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
Historic fleets
Awards
Cross of War
Military Medal
Legion of Honour
Ribbons

Aircraft inventory
TypeOriginClassRoleIntroducedIn serviceTotalNotes
Breguet Atlantique IIFranceTurbopropASW22[2]
Dassault Falcon 10 MFranceJetUtility6[2]
Dassault Falcon 50 MFranceJetPatrol8[2]
Dassault Falcon 200 GuardianFranceJetPatrol5[2]
Dassault Rafale MFranceJetMultirole42[3][2][4]
Embraer EMB 121 XinguBrazilTurbopropUtility11[2]
Eurocopter SA365 DauphinFranceRotorcraftSAR15[2]
Eurocopter AS565 PantherFranceRotorcraftUtility16[2]
Grumman E-2C HawkeyeUSATurbopropAEW&C3[2]
Mudry CAP 10FrancePropellerTrainer7[2]
NHIndustries NH90 Caiman MarineFranceRotorcraftAttack/SAR26[2]

Structure
Active bases of the French naval air arm (status 2013)

Immediately after the end of the World War II, the Aeronavale only had Supermarine Seafire Mk.III (Flottille 1F) and Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bombers (Flotilles 3F et 4F).

Components

The flight personnel of the French Navy falls into three categories: fighter aviation, fixed-wing aviation and helicopter aviation.

Operationally the French Naval Aviation has four components:

Units

Operational squadrons are known as Flottilles and normally consist of 12 aircraft :

  • 1F to 10F are carrier based anti-submarine squadrons
  • 11F to 20F are fighter and attack squadrons
  • 21F to 30F are maritime patrol squadrons
  • 31F to 39F are helicopter squadrons

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

  • 1S to 19S are communications squadrons
  • 20S to 29S are helicopters squadrons
  • 50S to 59S are training squadrons
Squadron Insignia Type Aircraft Base Role Notes
Embarqued Air Group (Le Groupe aérien embarqué)[5]
4F
Fixed wing E-2C Hawkeye Lann Bihoue Carrier Airborne Early Warning [6]
11F
Fixed wing Rafale M Landivisiau Strike Fighter [7]
12F
Fixed wing Rafale M Landivisiau Strike Fighter [8]
17F
Fixed wing Rafale M Landivisiau Strike Fighter [9] Ended conversion to Rafale M in June 2016.
Det. PEDRO Rotary Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin Hyères Plane guard Not part of the GAE. The Charles de Gaulle sets sail to cruises with 2 Dauphin helicopters from 35F.
Naval Patrol and Maritime Surveillance Aviation (l'Aviation de patrouille et de surveillance maritime)[10]
21F
Fixed wing Atlantique II Lann Bihoue Anti-Submarine Warfare / Naval patrol [11] Detachments at Dakar and Djibouti.
23F Fixed wing Atlantique II Lann Bihoue Anti-Submarine Warfare / Naval patrol [12]
24F Fixed wing Falcon 50 M Lann Bihoue Maritime surveillance / Search and Rescue [13]
25F Fixed wing Falcon 200 Guardian GAM Faa’a Maritime surveillance / Search and Rescue [14] Detachment at Nouméa.
Shipborne and Shore-based Helicopters (Les hélicoptères embarqués et basés à terre)
31F Rotary NH90 Caiman Hyeres Search and Rescue [15]
33F
Rotary NH90 Caiman Lanveoc Anti-Submarine Warfare / Search and Rescue [16]
34F Rotary Westland Lynx Lanveoc Anti-Submarine Warfare Disbanded 4 September 2020. Planned to re-activate in 2021 operating leased Dauphins as temporary equipment.[17] To convert to NH90 Caiman.[18]
35F Rotary Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, Alouette III Hyeres Search and Rescue Detachments at La Rochelle, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage[19] and Faa’a.
36F Rotary Eurocopter AS565 Panther Hyeres Small ship flights [20]
Support Aviation (l'Aviation de soutien)
10S Rotary/ Fixed wing/UAV Alouette III, Westland Lynx, Schiebel S-100 Serval Hyeres Experimental Aviation and airborne weapons research and development, evaluation at several locations.
22S Rotary Dauphin, EC120 Colibri Lanveoc Rotary operational training / Liaison
28F
Fixed wing Embraer Xingu Lann Bihoue Naval patrol and maritime surveillance operational training / Utility / Liaison [21]
50S Fixed wing SR20 and CAP-10 Lanveoc Elementary flying training
57S Fixed wing Falcon 10 M Landivisiau Combat aviation operational training [22]
  • Insignia of pilots of Naval aviation
  • Arm insignia of personnel of Naval aviation
  • Two Super Étendard, two Rafale fighters and an E-2C Hawkeye at the 2010s French Naval Aviation Centenary Airshow
  • Rafale fighter on the flight deck of Charles de Gaulle at dawn
  • Rafale fighters on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle
  • Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft
  • Lynx WG13 helicopter armed with a Mk46 torpedo on the deck of a frigate
  • Offshore rescue by French Navy Dauphin helicopter
  • Panther helicopter lifts off the deck of Guépratte

Retired Aircraft[23][24]
From 1951 to 1956, 164 Grumman Avengers were delivered to French Naval Aviation. They remained in service until 1965.
The Corsair F4U-7 was the first new aircraft delivered to the French Navy after 1945. It saw action during the Indochina war, Algerian war and operation Musketeer.
The Martin P5M-2 Marlin served in the French navy between 1959 and 1964.
During the Algerian War of independence, the French Navy flew Lockheed Neptunes on surveillance patrol to fight weapons smuggling by sea.
The Crusader was the air superiority jet aircraft of the French navy for 35 years.
The Canard Voisin was the first seaplane used by the French Navy.

Helicopters and Autogyros

See also
  • Edouard Guillaud

References & notes
  1. "World Air Forces 2019". Flightglobal: 16. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  2. "Defence Key Figures: 2016 Edition". Defense.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 2016-11-27. Retrieved 2016-12-10. (download PDF file or see HTML version Archived September 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine)
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2018-07-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2017-08-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2018-02-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Flotilla 4F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  7. "Flottilla 11F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  8. "Flottilla 12F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  9. "Flottilla 17F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2018-02-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Flottilla 21F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  12. "Flottilla 23F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  13. "Flottilla 24F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  14. "Flottilla 25F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  15. "Flottilla 31F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  16. "Flottilla 33F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  17. Allport, Dave (October 2020). "French Navy retires Lynx". Air International. Vol. 99 no. 4. p. 11. ISSN 0306-5634.
  18. "Flottilla 34F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  19. "Flottilla 35F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  20. "Flottilla 36F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  21. "Flottilla 28F". French Navy. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2018-02-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. "Military Factory - Site detailing past and present military systems and technology including aircraft, vehicles, guns and navy vessels of the world". Archived from the original on 2017-08-22. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  24. "Office of the Historian". www.history.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  25. "French Navy retires Lynx from service". janes.com. 8 September 2020.
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