French Naval Aviation

Aéronavale
French Naval Aviation
Founded 1910
Country  France
Branch  French Navy
Size 206 aircraft
Insignia
Roundels
Marine Nationale
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 Aéronautique navale was created in 1912. The headquarters is under command of an admiral (ALAVIA) in Toulon naval base. The French Naval Aviation has a strength of around 6,800 military and civilian 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 10 January 2016.

Aircraft Photo Origin Role Version Quantity[1] Note
Fixed-wing aircraft
Grumman E-2C Hawkeye  United States AEW&C C 3
Rafale M  France Multirole fighter aircraft F1
F3		 10
30 		Two aircraft to be delivered in 2016. All Rafale F1 to be upgraded to F3 standard by early 2017. Last two Rafale M to be delivered in 2020/2021.[2]
Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard  France Strike aircraft SEM 16 To be retired in July 2016.[3]
Atlantique II  France Maritime patrol [note 1]
C		10
12		 5 other Atlantique II are held in reserve.
Dassault Falcon 50  France Surveillance, reconnaissance Mi
Ms 		4
3 		1 more to be delivered in March 2016.[4]
Dassault Falcon 200 Guardian  France Surveillance, reconnaissance 5
Dassault Falcon 10  France Communications & Transport aircraft MER 6
Embraer EMB 121 Xingu  Brazil Transport aircraft & Trainer aircraft A
A1		 8
2
Mudry CAP 10  France Trainer aircraft B 7
Cirrus SR20  United States Trainer aircraft 3
Helicopters
NH90 Caiman  France Maritime helicopter
Search and rescue 		16 11 more on order.[5]
Eurocopter EC225  France Search and rescue SECMAR 2
Westland Lynx  United Kingdom Maritime helicopter Mk.2 (FN) 21
Eurocopter AS565 Panther  France Maritime helicopter SA 19 Panther is the military version of the Dauphin
Eurocopter SA 365 Dauphin  France Search and rescueF-1
N
N3 		3
6
2
Aérospatiale Alouette III  France Utility aircraft SA316B
SA316 B VSV
SA319B 		22

Structure

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

Components

The French Naval Aviation has four components:

Units

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

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

Squadron Insignia Type Aircraft Base Role Notes
4F Fixed wing E-2C Hawkeye BAN Lann Bihoue Carrier Airborne Early Warning
11F
Fixed wing Rafale M BAN Landivisiau Strike Fighter
12F
Fixed wing Rafale M BAN Landivisiau Strike Fighter
17F
Fixed wing Super Étendard BAN Landivisiau Strike Fighter To convert to Rafale M on 2016.
21F
Fixed wing Atlantique II BAN Lann Bihoue Maritime patrol detachments at Dakar and Djibouti
23F Fixed wing Atlantique II BAN Lann Bihoue Maritime patrol
24F Fixed wing Falcon 50 M BAN Lann Bihoue Maritime patrol
25F Fixed wing Falcon 200 Guardian GAM Faa’a Maritime patrol detachment at Nouméa
28F
Fixed wing Embraer Xingu BAN Lann Bihoue Utility
31F Rotary NH90 Caiman BAN Hyeres Search and Rescue
32F Rotary EC225 SECMAR BAN Lanveoc Search and Rescue detachment at Cherbourg
33F
Rotary NH90 Caiman BAN Lanveoc Anti-Submarine Warfare / Search and Rescue
34F Rotary Westland Lynx BAN Lanveoc Anti-Submarine Warfare To convert to NH90 Caiman
35F Rotary Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, Alouette III BAN Hyeres Search and Rescue detachments at La Rochelle, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage and Faa’a
36F Rotary Eurocopter AS565 Panther BAN Hyeres Small ship flights
10S Rotary/ Fixed wing/UAV Alouette III, Westland Lynx, Schiebel S-100 Serval BAN Hyeres Experimental
22S Rotary Alouette III BAN Lanveoc Utility
50S Fixed wing SR20 and CAP-10 BAN Lanveoc Elementary flying training
57S Fixed wing Falcon 10 M BAN Landivisiau Training (Jets)

Gallery

Former Aéronavale aircraft

Seaplanes

The Gourdou Leseurre GL.832 HY was a 1930s light shipboard reconnaissance floatplane.
The Latécoère 290 was a torpedo bomber floatplane produced during the 1930s.
The Martin P5M-2 Marlin served in the French navy between 1959 and 1964.
The Canard Voisin is the first seaplane used by the French Navy.

Aircraft

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 Algerian war and operation Musketeer.
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.

Helicopters

Autogyro

Notes

  1. ↑ 12 Atlantique have been modernized between 2008 and 2012.

References

  1. ↑ "Chiffres clés de la Défense 2015" September 3rd, 2015 (in French)
  2. ↑ "44 Rafale Marine auront été livrés fin 2015". Mer et Marine. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  3. ↑ "Une « seconde vie » en Argentine pour les SEM de l’aéronautique navale ?". Mer et Marine. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  4. ↑ "La 24F passera à huit Falcon 50 d’ici mars". Mer et Marine. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  5. ↑ "Un 16ème Caïman Marine pour l’aéronautique navale". Mer et Marine. Retrieved 2016-03-15.

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