Aéronavale
|
French naval aviation |
|
|---|---|
 Cocarde des aeronefs de l'aviation navale |
|
| Lineup | March 20, 1912 to date |
| Country |
 France
|
| Armed forces |
French armed forces : Les forces armées françaises |
| Armed forces |
French Navy French: Marine nationale française |
| Strength | 6800 |
| Location | Toulon |
| motto |
Honor - Patrie - Valeur - Discipline Honor - Fatherland - Courage - Discipline |
| equipment | Planes |
| commander | |
| Current commander |
Contre-amiral Olivier de Rostolan |
| insignia | |
| cockade |
 |
| Low visibility cockade |
 |
Aviation Navale (AVIA) is the name of the French naval aviators . It is one of four main parts of the French Navy . In its current form, the AVIA is the result of the merger of the carrier-based air units and the land-based naval patrol units on June 19, 1998.
This part of the navy is under the command of a rear admiral and has its headquarters in Toulon . It is responsible for the administration, training and combat readiness of its units.
The aviation navale has a long history that extends from the French pioneering work in naval aviation at the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. With the establishment of the service de l'aviation maritime in 1912, France put one of the first naval aviation units into service. It is divided into 14 squadrons ( flotillas ) and four smaller units ( escadrilles ). Details can be found on the pages of the bases.
Equipment and duties
Aéronavale operates 235 aircraft (as of 2009) divided into four areas.
Aviation embarquée - carrier-supported aircraft
stationed on the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle :
- 36 Super Étendard fighter-bombers modernized for air-to-ground missions and strategic nuclear strikes
- 29 Rafale M multi-purpose combat aircraft , a total of 58 are to be procured
- 3 E-2C Hawkeye air surveillance aircraft to protect the carrier group
- 27 Westland / Aérospatiale Lynx helicopters for fighting submarines
- 16 Eurocopter Panther helicopters for ship combat
For Operation Harmattan over Libya, the US Navy borrowed Grumman C-2 Greyhound transport aircraft in order to be able to keep the Charles de Gaulle in service for a longer period of time without supply in a port.
Maritime patrol - naval reconnaissance
- 27 long-range maritime patrol aircraft Breguet Atlantique 2
Surveillance et sauvetage - observation and rescue at sea
- 5 jets Dassault Falcon Guardian
- 8 Dassault Falcon 50 Marine reconnaissance jets , originally four Falcon 50Ms, which have been referred to as Falcon 50 MI (for intervention) since 2013, in contrast to four converted transport Falcons that have been added since 2013 and are referred to as Falcon 50MS (for surveillance)
- 6 Eurocopter Dauphin SP helicopters
- 8 helicopters Aérospatiale Super Frelon
- 8 helicopters NHI NH90 Caiman (ordered to replace SeaLynx and Super Frelon)
Soutien - support units
- 6 jets Dassault Falcon 10 jet
- 11 Embraer EMB 121 Xingu
- 7 training machines Mudry Cap-10
- 3 Dauphin Pedro
- 25 Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopters , formerly for fighting submarines, now for sea rescue.
- 2 Alouette VSV
- 9 Socata Rallye 100S training machines
Stationing locations
Aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle
With the Clemenceau and the Foch , the Aéronavale was available to two carriers at the same time until the end of the 1990s. The Foch was sold to the Brazilian Navy in 2000 . The Clemenceau reached the end of its service life in 1997. Her successor was the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle , the only carrier at the time. A large number of the Aéronavale aircraft are stationed on it. In the event of regular maintenance work or technical defects, the squadrons have to switch to one of the land bases (BAN). The navy originally wanted to procure a second aircraft carrier, the Porte Avions 2 (PA-2 for short), in order to remedy this and to ensure a constant carrier presence on the world's oceans again. However, its construction has not yet been decided.
On land, the French naval aviators use their own infrastructure, the Bases d'Aéronautique Navale (BAN) (analogous to German naval air bases ). There are a total of four such military airfields on the French mainland and one overseas (as of 2012).
-
France
- Base aeronautique navale de Hyères Lee Palustre , base for helicopters
- Base aeronautique navale de Landivisiau , base of the fighter jets
- Base aeronautique navale de Lann-Bihoué , base of reconnaissance aircraft
- Base aéronautique navale de Lanvéoc-Poulmic , helicopter base
- French overseas territories
The base aéronautique navale de Nîmes-Garons was closed on July 2, 2011 as part of the austerity measures decided in 2008, after the last squadron had left the base on June 7, 2011.
Image gallery
Badge of the Aéronautique navale (French: " Naval Aviator ").
The Dassault Super-Étendard has been the French navy's most important fighter aircraft since 1978. It is gradually being replaced by the more modern Dassault Rafale M.
Naval reconnaissance aircraft Atlantique II on the BAN Hyères in 2001.
Naval reconnaissance aircraft Atlantique II on the tarmac at Nîmes-Garons Air Base in 2007.
The Embraer EMB 121 number 69 of the 24F Navy Squadron , parked at the Nîmes-Garons air base
Dassault Rafale on the deck of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier
The French E2C Hawkeye number 1, parked at the Nîmes-Garons air base
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Website of the French Navy , ALAVIA ( Memento of July 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) - (French)
- ↑ La base aeronavale de Landivisiau (1967–2012). (French)
- ↑ Naissance de l'aviation militaire française ("Birth of French Naval Aviation") . Archived from the original on February 3, 2015 ; accessed on March 23, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d e f net-marine website, Aéronefs (“Aircraft”) - accessed October 24, 2009
- ↑ World Air Forces 2014. (PDF; 3.9 MB) In: Flightglobal Insight. 2014, archived from the original on December 25, 2013 ; accessed on March 26, 2014 (English).
