French Naval Aviation

French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: (contraction of ), or , or more simply ) is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is . Born as a fusion of aircraft carrier squadrons and the naval patrol air force, the AÃÂ©ronavale was created in 1912. The force is under the command of a flag officer officially titled 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.

Aircraft inventory

|- | BrÃÂ©guet Atlantique II || France || Turboprop || ASW || || 22 || || To be replaced by Airbus A321 MPA. |- | Dassault Falcon 10 M || France || Jet || Utility || || 6 || || |- | Dassault Falcon 50 M || France || Jet || Patrol || || 8 || || |- | Dassault Falcon 200 Guardian || France || Jet || Patrol || || 5 || || |- | Dassault Rafale M || France || Jet || Multirole || || 42 || || |- | Embraer EMB 121 Xingu || Brazil || Turboprop|| Utility || || 11 || || |- | Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin || France || Rotorcraft || SAR || || 15 || || |- | Eurocopter AS565 Panther || France || Rotorcraft || Utility || || 16 || || |- | Grumman E-2C Hawkeye || USA || Turboprop || AEW&C || || 3 || || |- | Mudry CAP 10 || France || Propeller || Trainer || || 7 || || |- | NHIndustries NH90 CaÃÂ¯man Marine || France || Rotorcraft || ASW/SAR || || 27 || || |- | Airbus Helicopters H160 || France || Rotorcraft || ASW/SAR || || 6 || ||

Structure

Immediately after the end of 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:

Embarked Air Group (Le Groupe aÃÂ©rien embarquÃÂ©) of the aircraft carrier : Rafale M, E-2C Hawkeye
Naval Patrol and Maritime Surveillance Aviation (l'Aviation de patrouille et de surveillance maritime): Atlantique 2, Falcon 50, Falcon 200
Shipborne and Shore-based Helicopters (Les hÃÂ©licoptÃÂ¨res embarquÃÂ©s et basÃÂ©s ÃÂ terre): Dauphin, Panther, CaÃÂ¯man Marine
Support Aviation (l'Aviation de soutien): Falcon 10, EMB-121 Xingu, SR20, Cap-10, Dauphin, EC120 Colibri

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

Retired aircraft

This is a list of retired aircraft that have flown with French Naval Aviation.

Helicopters and autogyros

References & notes

External links

French Fleet Air Arm, about French naval aviation.
(fr) Association pour la Recherche de Documentation sur l'Histoire de l'AÃÂ©ronautique Navale (ARDHAN), Association for Documentation Research on the History of French Naval Aviation.