| Armée de l' Air |
Despite
a number of disbandments and reorganisations, which took place following
the end of the Cold War, the French Air Force (Armée de l'
Air) is still a very sizeable air force equipped with modern aircraft.
A major restructuring took place in March 1994 when all flying units under the AdlA were organised under five different commands. As a result of this restructuring all
Escadres were disbanded with all assigned Escadrons becoming fully autonomous units operating. The Commandement de la Force Aérienne de Combat (CFAC)
which has control over all tactical combat aircraft which are organised in fourteen Escadrons de Chasse, two Escadron de Reconnaissance and one Escadron de Electronique.
Commandement de la Force Aériennes Stratégiques (CFAS) which controls the French nuclear forces including three Escadrons operating the Mirage 2000N
as well as three Escadrons operating the C-135FR, Mirage 4P and C-160H in strategic roles. The Commandement de la Force Aérienne de Projection (CFAP) is
responsible for tactical airlift, VIP transport, liaison, SAR and CSAR tasks operating a variety of transport aircraft and helicopters at a large number of bases in both
France as well as locations overseas. Training units are assigned to the Commandement des Ecoles de l' Armee de l'Air (CEAA) another major command is the
Commandement Air des Systemes de Surveillance, d'Information et de Communication (CASSIC) which is responsible for all C3 assets within the French Air Force. The
only flying unit under the CASSIC is EDCA36 at Avord operating the E-3F Sentry in the AEW role. One independent unit is the Centre des Expérimentations
Aériennes Militaires (CEAM) at Mont de Marsan, which is tasked with evaluation and standardisation tasks of new aircraft and munitions.
The past decade saw the delivery of large numbers of Mirage 2000B,
C, D and N models replacing most of the Mirage F1's as the countries
prime air defence fighter and the venerable Mirage 3E in the tactical
and nuclear strike role with EC3 and EC4 respectively. 55 surplus
Mirage F1C-200's were converted to Mirage F1CT's for tactical operations
replacing the Mirage 5F as well as most of the Jaguar As. The very last squadron
with the Jaguar, of eight squadrons in the glory days, has been
replaced by the first of the Rafales. Additional Mirage F1CR's of which 64 were received in the
early 80's are operated in the reconnaissance role with EC30 at Reims.
This unit is also operating the Mirage F1B for training purposes.
EC 4.30 'Vexin' based in Djibouti has trade his Mirage F1 for the
Mirage 2000. Modifications on existing aircraft include further upgraded
on the Mirage 2000N fleet as well as the Mirage 2000D for which the
final aircraft, the 86th, was recently delivered. In addition 37 Mirage
2000C's have recently being upgraded to Mirage 2000-5F standard equipping
EC2 at Dijon. The AdlA has entered a new era in 2005 when the
first Rafale squadron has become operational with EC7 at St.Dizier. 134 Rafale B/C's are currently on order. Deliveries will
probably continue through 2015. Elementary training is being conducted
on the Grob 120A-F and the TB30 Epsilon with EPAA315 at Cognac under
a contract with the civil EADS followed by the EMB 312F Tucano
with GI312 at Salon de Provence, which replaced the CM 170 Magister
in this role. Fast jet pilots then continue on the Alpha Jet with
EAC314 at Tours for advanced jet training and afterwards with ETO8
at Cazaux for weapons training. After receiving their wings, new pilots
will complete their training with the OCU's of the type to which they
will be posted. Transport pilots go to EAT319 at Avord for multi engine
training on the EMB 121 Xingu. For its transport tasks the AdlA relies
heavily on the C160 Transall, which is due to be replaced by the A400M
around the end of the decade. Approximately 65 Transalls serve in
the transport role with four Escadrons at Orléans-Bricy and
Evreux-Fauville. The latter is also operating the type in the refuelling
role. Evreux is also the home of EA1/59 'Bigorre' which operates four
C160H ASTARTEs for communications with the countries nuclear ISBM
equipped submarines. Other Transalls are in use with units based overseas
as well as two C160G, which operate in the ELINT role with EEA54 at Metz-Frescaty where it replaced the Noratlas in the late 80's. Additional
transport aircraft in service with the AdlA are fourteen C-130 Hercules
which are in use with ET2/61 at Orleans as well as fifteen CN235's
which serve with ETL1/62 at Creil-Senlis, the old home base of the
Mirage 3C and F1C equipped EC10 which was disbanded in the mid 80's.
The C-135FR's Stratotanker is the air forces main refuelling platform.
Additional types such as the TBM700, A310, A340, EMB121, DHC6 and Falcon 50 are in use for VIP and liaison duties. Helicopters
serve with six squadrons of Escadre d'Hélicoptéres 67
based in France as well as seven ETOMs and EHOMs based overseas. CIEH341
at Metz is conducting rotary wing training for the AdlA.
Helicopter types currently in service include the AS332 Super Puma,
AS532 Cougar, AS555 Fennec, AS355 Ecureuil. and the EC725 for combat
SAR. |
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Photo: Joost de Wit
Photo: Joost de Wit
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