French Naval Aviation
The Aéronautique navale is the only air arm outside the United States Navy that catapults a home-designed fighter off a nuclear-powered carrier and traps it back on with arrestor wires — about 200 aircraft and 4,450 sailors, four flying bases, and one ship, the Charles de Gaulle, that lets France put a full air group with its own airborne early warning anywhere in the world. Everything else in the service, from the Atlantique 2 that shadows submarines for the deterrent to the Dauphin that winches fishermen out of the Channel, hangs off that single argument: that a navy which cannot fly its own aeroplanes from its own deck is a navy that has to ask.
The French Naval Aviation story: one nuclear carrier, one home-built fighter, and a ship called France libre
1910–1918: the Foudre, a decree of 20 March 1912, and 1,135 aeroplanes by the Armistice
France was arguing about naval aviation before it had any aeroplanes worth arguing about. In April 1910 the navy minister, Vice-amiral Auguste Boué de Lapeyrère, put together a commission to decide whether the fleet needed airships or aeroplanes; its report of 1 July 1910 came down for aeroplanes and sketched a ship with a launching rail forward and a landing platform aft. The service of maritime aviation was created by decree on 20 March 1912, with one converted cruiser, the Foudre, a stretch of marsh at the mouth of the Argens that became Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël, and two aircraft — a Maurice Farman biplane and a Canard Voisin floatplane. The Aéronautique navale still dates its birthday from that decree. The Great War turned the experiment into an industry: flying boats hunting U-boats out of Camaret, Dunkerque and Bizerte, airships and kite balloons over the convoys. By 11 November 1918 French maritime aviation had 1,135 aeroplanes, about thirty airships, some 200 Caquot balloons, 11,000 people and thirty-two shore bases. Two hundred and forty aircrew had been killed.
1920–1945: Paul Teste lands on the Béarn, and then the catastrophe
The thing France could not do in 1918 was land on a ship. On 25 October 1918 Lieutenant de vaisseau Georges Guierre got a Hanriot HD.2 off and back onto a platform at Saint-Raphaël; a fortnight later Enseigne de vaisseau Paul Teste crashed doing the same thing and the platforms came down the next day. Teste was the man who finally settled it. On 20 October 1920, flying a Hanriot off Le Palyvestre at Hyères, he found the Béarn in Toulon roads with a white stripe painted down her deck, cut the throttle half a metre up and stopped inside thirty metres. The Marine nationale treats that landing as the founding act of French carrier aviation, and the base he took off from is still a naval air station. The Béarn herself — an unfinished Normandie-class battleship hull converted under the Washington Treaty — commissioned on 1 May 1928, and France then spent the 1930s building the wrong aeroplanes for her. In 1940 the carrier was carrying American aircraft to the Caribbean when the armistice caught her; naval aviators fought the Battle of France from shore fields, and the arm was effectively dismantled.
1946–1962: American hand-me-downs, Indochina, Suez and Algeria
Rebuilding was done with other people’s aircraft. Between 1945 and 1960 the Aéronautique navale flew Supermarine Seafires, Grumman Hellcats, Curtiss Helldivers, TBM Avengers, PB4Y Privateers, Lockheed Neptunes and, above all, the Chance Vought Corsair — 69 AU-1s and 94 F4U-7s, making France the last military operator of the type, which it kept flying until 1964. Those aircraft went to war almost continuously. In Indochina the escort carriers Dixmude, Arromanches, La Fayette و Bois Belleau ran campaign after campaign from 1947 to 1955, including close air support during the battle of Điện Biên Phủ; in May and June 1954 alone the Corsairs flew 959 sorties and 1,335 hours, dropped more than 700 tonnes of bombs and 700 canisters of napalm, and lost six aircraft and two pilots. At Suez in November 1956 the Arromanches و La Fayette put up Corsairs and Avengers against Egyptian airfields and armour, covering the drops at al-Raswa and Port-Fouad. In Algeria, naval Neptunes, Lancasters and Privateers from Lartigue, Karouba and Port-Lyautey watched the coast and the electrified border fences for seven years.
1962–2000: the Étendard, the Crusader and the Alizé — and a nuclear weapon at sea
The all-French carrier navy arrived with the Clemenceau in 1961 and the Foch in 1963, and with a trio of aircraft that defined the service for forty years: the Breguet Alizé for anti-submarine work, the Dassault Étendard IV for strike and reconnaissance, and — because no French fighter existed — 42 Vought F-8E(FN) Crusaders bought in 1964 after the money for a third missile frigate was cancelled to pay for them. A new base was built in Brittany to hold them: BAN Landivisiau, opened by Charles de Gaulle on 1 February 1965, so that the carriers lying at Brest would have their fighters thirty kilometres away. From 1978 the Super Étendard replaced the Étendard IV, and with it came something no other European navy had: from the mid-1980s the carrier air group carried the AN-52 free-fall nuclear bomb and then the ASMP missile, making France the only country besides the United States and Russia with a naval air-delivered nuclear weapon. The naval component of the deterrent, the Force aéronavale nucléaire, is a task organisation, not a unit — when the president orders it, ALAVIA’s squadrons and the carrier are placed under it.
2001–2016: the Charles de Gaulle, Task Force 473 and the end of the Super Étendard
ال Charles de Gaulle commissioned on 18 May 2001 and went to war within seven months. Task Force 473 sailed from Toulon on 1 December 2001 for Operation Héraclès with sixteen Super Étendard, one E-2C Hawkeye and two Rafale M F1 still under trial; between 19 December 2001 and 19 June 2002 the air group flew 165 close air support missions, 100 reconnaissance, 126 airborne early warning and 120 tanker sorties over Afghanistan, more than 2,700 flying hours in all. Over Libya in 2011 the same task force number covered 148 days away, 138 of them at sea including 63 without a break, and generated 1,350 sorties, 3,600 flying hours and 2,380 catapult launches and arrested landings from ten Rafale M, six Super Étendard Modernisé and two Hawkeyes. From 2015 the carrier joined the campaign against Islamic State, reinforcing Opération Chammal eight separate times between January 2015 and December 2022. The Super Étendard flew its last catapult launch on 16 March 2016 and was retired at Landivisiau on 12 July 2016 after thirty-eight years, leaving all three fighter flottilles — 11F, 12F and 17F — on the Rafale M.
2017–2026: all-Rafale, the Indo-Pacific, and the ship called France libre
Today the Aéronautique navale is a small force with an outsized reach. The 2017–18 mid-life refit rebuilt the carrier around a single fighter type and a new combat system; a third major refit follows in 2027, bringing the Sea Fire 500 radar and the SETIS 3.0 combat system. In between, the ship has taken the group to the Indo-Pacific: mission Clemenceau 25, from 28 November 2024 to 25 April 2025, ran the Pacific Steller exercise with two American and Japanese decks and a hundred aircraft, flew Rafale into Darwin from 2,000 km away, and worked with the Indian carrier Vikrant in Varuna. The equipment is turning over all at once: 18 Atlantique 2 finished the Standard 6 upgrade in February 2026, the first two Falcon 2000 LXS Albatros arrived on 8 September 2026, three E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes are due from 2027, and the H160M Guépard is meant to replace the leased Dauphins from the end of the decade. The Rafale M, though, is the problem: the navy got the first Rafales and so must replace them first, and the updated planning law pushes its F5 aircraft towards 2038 — the year the successor ship, named France libre by President Macron on 18 March 2026, is due to commission.
The French Naval Aviation in numbers
خدمة
- الاسم الأصلي
- Aéronautique navale
- Formally: Force maritime de l’aéronautique navale
- Also Aviation navale, or simply l’Aéro
Its people call themselves les marins du ciel — the sailors of the sky — and wear a penguin on the sleeve badge. The force takes the navy motto, Honneur, Patrie, Valeur, Discipline.
- تأسست
- 20 March 1912The decree of 20 March 1912 created the service de l’aviation maritime, giving it a shore aerodrome at Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël, the seaplane carrier Foudre and two aircraft. A further decree of 10 July 1914 organised it as the service de l’aéronautique maritime. The present force dates from 19 June 1998, when carrier aviation and maritime patrol aviation were merged.
- جزء من
- Marine nationaleOne of the four components of the French Navy alongside the surface action force, the submarine force and the fusiliers marins and commandos. It is entirely separate from the Armée de l’air et de l’espace, which has its own Rafale fleet, and from the army’s ALAT.
- قائد
- Contre-amiral David Desfougères (ALAVIA)Amiral commandant la force de l’aéronautique navale, based at Toulon, responsible for administration, training and operational readiness. In command since 27 August 2025.
- Organisation
-
- Groupe aérien embarqué (GAé) — the carrier air group: 11F, 12F, 17F and 4F
- Patrouille et surveillance maritime — 21F, 23F, 24F, 25F
- Helicopters — 31F, 32F, 33F, 34F, 35F, 36F
- Support and training — 28F, escadrilles 50S and 57S, CEPA/10S
Governed by instruction no. 24/DEF/EMM/ROJ of 11 October 2021, published in the Bulletin officiel des armées on 29 October 2021. Units are flottilles (front-line squadrons) and escadrilles (support and training squadrons).
- The nuclear question
- FANu is a task force, not a unitThe Force aéronavale nucléaire is the naval air component of the deterrent: when the president orders it, the carrier and Rafale M squadrons that normally answer to ALAVIA are placed under a dedicated command to deliver the ASMPA-R missile. The Aéronautique navale is the arm; the FANu is a posture it can be put into. They are not the same thing, and no aircraft is permanently assigned to the FANu.
قوة
- Personnel
- about 4,450The figure the navy used at the August 2025 change of command. Its recruiting service gives about 4,500 marins du ciel across seventeen specialisations, from carrier fighter pilot to flight-deck director — the chiens jaunes, the yellow-shirted deck handlers. In 2011 the force counted 6,824 people; it has shrunk by about a third since.
- الطائرات
- about 200
- The navy’s own count at the August 2025 change of command
- Its recruiting service publishes 178
- Roughly 160 of those are front-line, the rest training, liaison and leased
The spread is real and depends on whether leased helicopters, drones and the outsourced trainers are counted. Neither figure is broken down by type in the same document.
- Carrier fighters
- 41–42 Rafale MSources genuinely disagree: opex360 reported 42 in May 2026 and 41 in July 2026, and the navy’s own “recognised format” is 51. Three flottilles of about fifteen aircraft each, one of which is always in regeneration ashore. Four Rafale M have been lost in accidents since 2001.
- Maritime patrol
- 18 Atlantique 2 at Standard 6Out of a fleet of 19 at 31 December 2025 in the ministry’s Chiffres clés de la Défense 2026, down from 21 a year earlier; 22 were built, and the airframes not taken to Standard 6 are held as a spares reserve. The eighteenth and last upgraded aircraft was handed over at Lann-Bihoué on 17–18 February 2026 and the type is planned to serve to about 2035.
- Airborne early warning
- 3 E-2C Hawkeye 2000The only carrier-borne AEW aircraft outside the United States Navy. Three E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes were contracted in December 2021 for about 360 million dollars; the first is due in 2027.
- Lives saved
- about 300 a yearThe figure the navy publishes for search and rescue by the Dauphin and Caïman flottilles across the Channel, Atlantic, Mediterranean and overseas départements. Naval aviation holds the SAR alert on several French coastlines on behalf of the state.
بنية تحتية
- Naval air bases
- 4 bases d’aéronautique navale
- BAN Landivisiau (Finistère) — carrier fighters
- BAN Lann-Bihoué (Morbihan) — maritime patrol and AEW
- BAN Lanvéoc-Poulmic (Finistère) — helicopters and the naval academy
- BAN Hyères-Le Palyvestre (Var) — helicopters, Mediterranean
Down from nine metropolitan bases in 1971. Nîmes-Garons closed on 1 July 2011, Saint-Mandrier in 2004, Cuers-Pierrefeu on 1 October 1997, Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël in 1995 and Aspretto on 22 September 1993.
- Detachments
-
- Cherbourg-Maupertus — H160 of flottille 32F
- Le Touquet and La Rochelle — Dauphin SP of flottille 35F
- Tahiti-Faa’a, Nouméa-La Tontouta, La Réunion, Martinique — Falcon, Dauphin and Panther
Overseas naval aviation lives on air force or civil airfields rather than on bases of its own. The Falcon 200 Gardian flew its farewell in French Polynesia in March 2026 and was replaced by two Falcon 50M.
- The carrier
- Charles de Gaulle (R91), 42,500 tThe only nuclear-powered carrier outside the United States Navy and the only non-American ship with catapults, arrestor wires and fixed-wing airborne early warning. Two American C13-3 steam catapults, three arrestor wires, up to 40 aircraft. Third major refit due 2027; a successor, France libre, is planned for 2038.
- Longest runway
- 2,700 m at LandivisiauShort by air force standards — carrier pilots do not need length, they need a painted deck outline and a mirror. Landivisiau and Lann-Bihoué both have simulated carrier landing markings; Landivisiau also has a full flight-deck ground marking for “carrier weeks”.
How the French Naval Aviation is organised
One organic commander at Toulon, four flying bases, ten flottilles and three escadrilles. The unusual one is the FANu, the naval nuclear task force — not a unit but a posture that the carrier and its Rafale squadrons can be placed into on presidential order.
Force maritime de l’aéronautique navale (ALAVIA)
The organic command of French naval aviation: administration, training and operational readiness for every naval aircraft, drone and air base. Created in its present form on 19 June 1998 by the merger of carrier aviation and maritime patrol aviation, and organised by instruction no. 24/DEF/EMM/ROJ of 11 October 2021.
Groupe aérien embarqué
The air group that embarks in the Charles de Gaulle: three Rafale M flottilles from Landivisiau, the E-2C Hawkeyes of 4F from Lann-Bihoué, and helicopter detachments. Up to 40 aircraft. When the ship is unavailable the same formation trains ashore as the GAETAN.
Force aéronavale nucléaire
The naval air component of the French deterrent. Not a standing unit but a task organisation: on presidential order, the carrier and its Rafale M squadrons are placed under a dedicated command to deliver the ASMPA-R stand-off missile. Distinct from the Aéronautique navale itself, and from the air force’s Forces aériennes stratégiques.
Patrouille maritime
Flottilles 21F and 23F with the Atlantique 2 at Lann-Bihoué: anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, intelligence gathering, protection of the ballistic-missile submarine force, and overland strike with laser-guided bombs.
Surveillance maritime
Flottilles 24F and 25F with the Falcon 50M, the Falcon 200 Gardian and now the Falcon 2000 LXS Albatros: policing the French exclusive economic zones at home and overseas, fishery and traffic control, pollution watch and search and rescue.
Hélicoptères embarqués
Flottilles 31F and 33F on the NH90 Caïman Marine and 36F on the AS565 Panther, which arm the frigates and the carrier. Anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, counter-piracy, counter-narcotics and special operations.
Recherche et sauvetage, soutien
Flottilles 32F, 34F and 35F on the H160 and the Dauphin: state search and rescue alert on the French coasts and overseas, shipborne support for the replenishment and amphibious ships, and the embarked helicopter school. About 300 lives saved a year.
Système de drone aérien de la Marine
Flottille 36F operates the Schiebel Camcopter S-100 from the amphibious assault ships and, from 2026, the FREMM frigates; the Aliaca mini-drone flies from patrol vessels and surveillance frigates, and six Airbus VSR700 are due from 2028.
Centre d’expérimentations pratiques et de réception de l’aéronautique navale
Acceptance and operational trials for every naval type, with about 180 military and 50 civilian staff. Its current work runs from clearing the Falcon 2000 Albatros to additive manufacturing of spare parts and data and AI tools for maintenance.
École du personnel du pont d’envol and escadrille 50S
The flight-deck school at Hyères, which trains the chiens jaunes and every deck sailor, and escadrille 50S at Lanvéoc-Poulmic, which gives officer cadets from the École navale their first flights. Carrier pilots qualify with the United States Navy at NAS Meridian, Mississippi.
What the French Naval Aviation flies today
كل نوع متاح برسوم، ويرتبط بصفحته في كتاب الوحوش إن وجدت. تشير الأرقام إلى الطائرات المسجلة، وليس الطائرات المتاحة في يوم معين.
| يكتب | دور | في الخدمة | منذ | الوحدات | ملحوظات | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dassault Rafale Mفي الخدمة | Omnirole carrier fighter: air defence, strike, reconnaissance, buddy refuelling and nuclear delivery | 41 | 2001 | — | 41–42. Opex360 reported 42 in May 2026 and 41 in July 2026; the navy’s stated “recognised format” is 51. Four have been lost in accidents since 2001.
أكثرOne further airframe is used as a trials aircraft. |
|
| Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 2000في الخدمة | Carrier-borne airborne early warning and air control | 3 | 1998 | — | Three aircraft, all with flottille 4F at Lann-Bihoué; two normally embark. | |
| Dassault-Breguet Atlantique 2 (ATL2)في الخدمة | Maritime patrol: anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, intelligence, overland strike | 19 | 1989 | — | 18 modernised to Standard 6, the last delivered to Lann-Bihoué on 17–18 February 2026.
أكثرThe total airframe count is given as 21 or 22 depending on the source; the four not upgraded are kept as a spares reserve, a consequence of budget limits in the 2019–2025 planning law. |
|
| Dassault Falcon 50M Surmarفي الخدمة | Maritime surveillance, search and rescue, fishery and traffic policing | 8 | 2000 | — | Eight aircraft with flottille 24F at Lann-Bihoué; two have been sent to French Polynesia to take over from the Falcon 200 Gardian. | |
| Dassault Falcon 200 Gardianفي الخدمة | Overseas maritime surveillance | 3 | 1983 | — | Four on charge, about two still flying. The Polynesian detachment held its farewell on 18 March 2026; the remaining aircraft at Nouméa-La Tontouta are due to give up the role in 2027. | |
| Dassault Falcon 2000 LXS Albatrosفي الخدمة | Maritime surveillance and intervention (AVSIMAR) | 2 | 2026 | — | The first two were handed over on 8 September 2026, five days before this page was verified.
أكثرA third is due before the end of 2026, then about two a year; the total order stands at 11 after being cut from 13, then 12, in the updated 2024–2030 planning law. |
|
| Dassault Falcon 10 MERفي الخدمة | Instrument flying training for fighter pilots, liaison, radar training target | 6 | 1975 | — | Six on charge, about four flying, with escadrille 57S at Landivisiau. In service since May 1975. | |
| Pilatus PC-24 Balbuzardفي الخدمة | Liaison, instrument training and maritime search support | 2 | 2026 | — | Three leased from Jet Aviation under a contract notified in late August 2025 for about ten years; the first was delivered on 16 March 2026. | |
| إمبراير إي إم بي-121 شينغوفي الخدمة | Multi-engine training, liaison and light transport | 8 | 1983 | — | Eight with flottille 28F at Lann-Bihoué, with a detachment at Hyères. | |
| Mudry CAP 10في الخدمة | Initial flying training and aerobatic screening | 6 | 1995 | — | Six with escadrille 50S at Lanvéoc-Poulmic. | |
| Cirrus SR20 / SR22في الخدمة | Ab initio flying training | 3 | 2010 | — | Three, on an outsourced fleet contract, with escadrille 50S. | |
| NHIndustries NH90 Caïman Marine (NFH)في الخدمة | Anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, combat search and rescue, special operations | 27 | 2010 | — | 27 delivered between 30 April 2010 and 2021, split between flottille 31F at Hyères and flottille 33F at Lanvéoc-Poulmic. | |
| Airbus Helicopters H160في الخدمة | Search and rescue, maritime surveillance and support | 6 | 2022 | — | Six leased from Babcock for flottille 32F at Lanvéoc-Poulmic, with detachments at Hyères and Cherbourg-Maupertus. | |
| Airbus Helicopters AS365 N3 / N3+ Dauphinفي الخدمة | Shipborne support, embarked helicopter training | 9 | 2021 | — | About 11 N3+ leased from DCI and Héli-Union plus 5 N3 leased from NHV, all with flottille 34F at Lanvéoc-Poulmic and detachments at Hyères, La Réunion, Nouméa and Tahiti. | |
| Aérospatiale SA365 N / AS365 N3+ Dauphin SPفي الخدمة | Search and rescue and support | 8 | 1990 | — | Six SA365 N and two AS365 N3+ with flottille 35F at Hyères, detached to Le Touquet, La Rochelle and Tahiti-Faa’a. | |
| Aérospatiale SA365 F Dauphin Pedroفي الخدمة | Plane-guard rescue helicopter for carrier flying operations | 3 | 1990 | — | Three with flottille 35F, detached aboard the carrier whenever flying is in progress. | |
| Airbus Helicopters AS565 Pantherفي الخدمة | Anti-surface warfare, counter-piracy and counter-narcotics, intelligence | 16 | 1993 | — | Sixteen with flottille 36F at Hyères, with a permanent detachment at Martinique-Aimé Césaire. | |
| Schiebel Camcopter S-100 Servalفي الخدمة | Shipborne rotary-wing surveillance drone | 6 | 2019 | — | Six systems in service, sixteen on order in total; ten more were ordered in January 2026. Operated by flottille 36F at Hyères. | |
| Survey Copter Aliaca (SMDM)في الخدمة | Shipborne mini-drone for surveillance from patrol vessels | 11 | 2019 | — | 11 systems in service out of 34 ordered; ten more to be delivered from 2027. |
عند الطلب
| يكتب | تم الطلب | التسليم الأول | ملحوظات | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeyeعند الطلب | 3 | 2027 | Contracted through the Pentagon to Northrop Grumman in December 2021 for close to 360 million dollars; production of the first aircraft began in December 2024.
أكثرThe E-2D replaces the three E-2C Hawkeye 2000 of flottille 4F one for one and adds air-to-air refuelling, which the E-2C never had — on a single-carrier navy that matters, because it lets the early-warning aircraft stay up while the deck is fouled. It will also be the airborne early warning aircraft of the next carrier. |
|
| Dassault Falcon 2000 LXS Albatrosعند الطلب | 9 | 2026 | Nine still to come of the eleven ordered under the AVSIMAR programme, after the first two were handed over on 8 September 2026.
أكثرThe order has been cut twice, from thirteen to twelve and then to eleven in the updated 2024–2030 planning law. A third aircraft is due before the end of 2026 and then roughly two a year, with all deliveries complete before 2035. Seven were ordered in 2020 and five more in October 2025. |
|
| Airbus Helicopters H160M Guépard Marineعند الطلب | 49 | 2029 | The navy’s share of the tri-service Hélicoptère interarmées léger programme, and the aircraft that finally replaces the Alouette III, the Panther and the whole leased Dauphin and H160 fleet with one type.
أكثرNaval missions are air-maritime combat, protection and support of the naval force, special operations and state action at sea. Armament fit was still being decided in 2024; entry into service is expected from the end of the decade. |
|
| Dassault Rafale M F5عند الطلب | 12 | 2038 | Twelve of the planned sixth production batch of 45 Rafale would go to the navy, renewing about a third of the Rafale M fleet.
أكثرThe notification was expected in 2029, but the updated planning law puts the renewal of the air force’s nuclear squadrons first, before 2035, and the navy’s F5 deliveries are now spoken of around 2038 — timed to the new carrier rather than to the wear on the current aircraft. The schedule is officially “to be confirmed when F5 production is launched”. |
|
| Schiebel Camcopter S-100Fعند الطلب | 5 | 2026 | Five systems contracted through Naval Group in January 2026 for integration on the FREMM multi-mission frigates under the SDAM shipborne drone programme, with ten more air vehicles ordered.
أكثرThe DGA chose an aircraft already in service over the still-developing VSR700 for this role on grounds of availability and cost. |
|
| Airbus Helicopters VSR700عند الطلب | 6 | 2028 | Six unmanned helicopters confirmed in January 2026 after a framework agreement of June 2025, for delivery between 2028 and 2030.
أكثرDerived from the Guimbal Cabri G2 and built for the Jacques Chevallier-class replenishment ships, with the intervention frigates a possible later fit. Eight hours’ endurance, 150 km radius, and a possible anti-submarine role; it is meant to work directly for the carrier group. |
|
| Pilatus PC-7 MKXعند الطلب | 22 | 2027 | Twenty-two aircraft and twelve Exail simulators ordered by the DGA in December 2024 under the Mentor 2 contract, notified to Babcock International France Aviation, to replace the Cirrus SR20 and Grob G 120 in the shared ab initio pipeline that trains both naval and air force pilots. | |
| Pilatus PC-24 Balbuzardعند الطلب | 1 | 2026 | The third of three leased aircraft for escadrille 57S at Landivisiau. The first was delivered on 16 March 2026 under a ten-year lease from Jet Aviation notified in late August 2025. | |
| Porte-avions de nouvelle génération France libre (R92)عند الطلب | 1 | 2038 | Not an aircraft, but the thing everything else waits on.
أكثرAbout 80,000 tonnes, 310 m long, two K22 reactors of 220 MW each, some 2,000 crew and an air group of 40 or more Rafale, three E-2D and H160M Guépard, at a cost put at around ten billion euros. Nuclear propulsion was confirmed by President Macron on 8 December 2020; construction was launched at a ministerial investment committee in December 2025; the ship was named France libre at Naval Group’s Indret site on 18 March 2026. Build at Chantiers de l’Atlantique from 2031, launch about 2036, commissioning 2038. Catapults are to be American EMALS electromagnetic units from General Atomics, because the United States has stopped building steam catapults. |
|
| Patmar futur (Atlantique 2 successor)عند الطلب | — | The DGA has run two architecture studies for the aircraft that replaces the ATL2 in the 2030s.
أكثرThe two candidates are a maritime patrol version of the Dassault Falcon 10X and an Airbus A321 MPA based on the A321neo XLR. No decision had been announced by September 2026. |
Every type the French Naval Aviation has retired
21 types, from the Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver to the Sud-Aviation SA316 / SA319 Alouette III. تمثل الأرقام القصوى عدد الطائرات التي تم استلامها على مدار فترة الخدمة بأكملها، وليس قوة الأسطول في أي تاريخ محدد.
| يكتب | دور | قمة | تم تقديمه | تم استبداله بـ | ملحوظات | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sud-Aviation SA316 / SA319 Alouette III | Shipborne utility, plane guard, search and rescue, light anti-submarine warfare and training | 37 | 1962–2022 | Airbus Helicopters H160 (interim) and H160M Guépard | 37 received from 1962; nine were still on strength on 1 July 2021. | |
| Westland WG-13 Lynx | Shipborne anti-submarine warfare | 40 | 1978–2020 | NHIndustries NH90 Caïman Marine | Forty ordered; fourteen were still in service on 1 July 2019. | |
| Dassault Super-Étendard / Super-Étendard Modernisé | Carrier strike, anti-ship attack, reconnaissance and nuclear delivery | 71 | 1978–2016 | Dassault Rafale M | 71 built for the Aéronautique navale, of which 53 were rebuilt as the Super-Étendard Modernisé from 1993. | |
| Aérospatiale SA321 Super Frelon | Heavy transport, search and rescue, special operations and anti-submarine warfare | 24 | 1966–2010 | EC225 Caracal (interim), then NHIndustries NH90 Caïman Marine | Four were still flying at the end; the type retired on 30 April 2010 with flottille 32F at Lanvéoc-Poulmic. | |
| Nord 262 Frégate | Overseas maritime surveillance, training and liaison | 29 | 1970–2002 | Embraer EMB-121 Xingu and Dassault Falcon 200 Gardian | About 29 across surveillance, training and liaison duties; the last left flottille 28F in 2002. | |
| Dassault Étendard IVM / IVP | Carrier strike, reconnaissance and buddy refuelling | 90 | 1962–2000 | Dassault Super-Étendard and Rafale M | 90 delivered between 9 December 1961 and 26 May 1965, comprising strike IVM and reconnaissance IVP versions. | |
| Breguet Br.1050 Alizé | Carrier-borne anti-submarine warfare and surface surveillance | 75 | 1959–2000 | Grumman E-2C Hawkeye and shipborne helicopters | 75 delivered between 1959 and 1961 out of 100 ordered, plus five pre-production aircraft ordered on 21 June 1955. | |
| Vought F-8E(FN) Crusader | Carrier air defence and fleet interception | 42 | 1964–1999 | Dassault Rafale M | 42 aircraft in a special French version, delivered from 1964; 17 were later upgraded as F-8P and flew to the end. | |
| Dassault-Breguet Atlantic (ATL1) | Maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare | 40 | 1965–1997 | Atlantique 2 | 40 for France out of 87 built for the NATO programme; the first reached flottille 21F at Nîmes-Garons in 1965. | |
| Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris | Jet training and liaison | 20 | 1972–1997 | Dassault Falcon 10 MER | Flown by escadrille 57S at Landivisiau from May 1972 to October 1997. | |
| Fouga CM.175 Zéphyr | Carrier landing training | 30 | 1959–1994 | — | Thirty delivered from 1959, tested aboard the British carriers HMS Eagle and HMS Bulwark. | |
| Lockheed P-2 Neptune | Land-based maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare | 57 | 1953–1984 | Dassault-Breguet Atlantic | 31 P-2V6 from 1953 and 26 P-2V7 from 1958, the latter with two auxiliary jet engines. | |
| Sikorsky HSS-1 / H-34 | Anti-submarine warfare and assault transport | 54 | 1957–1979 | Aérospatiale SA321 Super Frelon | 54 in three flottilles on 1 June 1961. | |
| SNCASE Aquilon (de Havilland Sea Venom) | Carrier all-weather fighter | 101 | 1955–1973 | Dassault Étendard IV and Vought F-8E(FN) Crusader | About 101 built under licence in France from the de Havilland Sea Venom; 81 were in service on 1 June 1961 in two flottilles. | |
| Grumman TBM Avenger | Carrier anti-submarine and airborne early warning | 126 | 1951–1965 | Breguet Br.1050 Alizé | 60 TBM-3E from 1951, 34 TBM-3S/3SQ attack and 32 TBM-3W2 radar-equipped aircraft; 27 more British Avenger AS.IV came as spares. | |
| Avro Lancaster | Maritime patrol and search and rescue | 54 | 1952–1964 | Lockheed P-2 Neptune | 54 ex-Royal Air Force aircraft supplied from 1952, flown from Lann-Bihoué, Lartigue, New Caledonia and elsewhere. | |
| Vought F4U-7 / AU-1 Corsair | Carrier strike fighter and ground attack | 163 | 1953–1964 | Dassault Étendard IV | 69 AU-1 from 1953 and 94 F4U-7 from 1954. | |
| Martin P5M Marlin | Maritime patrol flying boat | 10 | 1959–1964 | — | Ten aircraft, one flottille, in service on 1 June 1961. | |
| Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer | Maritime patrol and ground attack | 12 | 1951–1962 | Lockheed P-2 Neptune | Twelve aircraft, flottille 28F, from 1951. | |
| Grumman F6F Hellcat | Carrier fighter and ground attack | 139 | 1950–1960 | Vought F4U Corsair | 139 delivered between 1950 and 1953. | |
| Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver | Carrier dive bomber | 110 | 1949–1958 | Vought F4U Corsair | 110 delivered between 1949 and 1954. |
Where French naval aviation flies from — and the thirteen bases it has given up
Black pins are active bases and detachments, hollow pins the ones the navy has closed or handed over. There were nine naval air bases in metropolitan France in 1971 and there are four now; the first of them all, Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël, opened in 1912 and closed in 1995.
Metropolitan France
7 of the 20 bases above sit outside metropolitan France, so the world map has to pull back until the home airfields cannot be told apart. The same pins again, without the overseas bases.
| قاعدة | منظمة الطيران المدني الدولي (ICAO) | حالة | المدرج | الوحدات والطائرات |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAN Hyères-Le Palyvestreمتغير | LFTH | نشيط | 05/232121 مترًا13/311809 متر |
|
| حظر لانديفيسيوفينيستير | LFRJ | نشيط | 07/252700 متر |
|
| BAN Lann-Bihouéموربيهان | LFRH | نشيط | 07/252403 متر02/201670 متراً |
|
| BAN Lanvéoc-Poulmicفينيستير | LFRL | نشيط | 05/231,119 mpaved13/31751 mغير معبد |
|
| Cherbourg-Maupertus naval air detachmentManche | LFRC | نشيط | 10/282440 مترًا |
|
| La Rochelle naval air detachmentCharente-Maritime | LFBH | نشيط | 09/272,255 m |
|
| La Réunion naval air detachmentLa Réunion | FMEE | نشيط | 12/303200 متر14/322,670 m |
|
| Le Touquet naval air detachmentPas-de-Calais | LFAT | نشيط | 13/311850 متراً |
|
| Martinique naval air detachmentMartinique | TFFF | نشيط | 10/283,300 m |
|
| Nouméa-La Tontouta naval air detachmentNew Caledonia | NWWW | نشيط | 11/293,250 m |
|
| Tahiti-Faa’a naval air detachmentFrench Polynesia | NTAA | نشيط | 04/223,420 m |
|
| BAN Nîmes-Garonsجارد | LFTW | Closed 2011 | 18/362443 مترًاأسمنت |
|
| EAN Dugny-Le BourgetSeine-Saint-Denis | LFPB | Closed 2011 | 07/253000 متر03/211,845 m |
|
| BAN Saint-Mandrierمتغير | Closed 2004 | — |
|
|
| BAN Cuers-Pierrefeuمتغير | LFTF | أُغلق عام 1997 | 11/291,983 mأسمنت |
|
| BAN Fréjus-Saint-Raphaëlمتغير | LFTU | أُغلق عام 1995 | 01/191,200 m |
|
| BAN Asprettoكورس دو سود | أُغلق عام 1993 | — |
|
|
| BAN KaroubaTunisia | أُغلق عام 1963 | — |
|
|
| BAN Port-Lyauteyالمغرب | GMMY | أُغلق عام 1963 | 07/252443 مترًا10/281,843 m |
|
| BAN LartigueAlgeria | Closed 1962 | — |
|
لا توجد قاعدة جوية مطابقة لهذا البحث.
Who is stationed where in the French Naval Aviation
Flottilles and escadrilles by base. A flottille is a front-line squadron and an escadrille a support or training one — and the three Rafale flottilles at Landivisiau are the only carrier fighter squadrons in Europe.
- Flottille 11FLa Furieuse · Carrier fighter flottille · active
- Dassault Rafale M
- Flottille 12FLa Douzeff · Carrier fighter flottille · active
- Dassault Rafale M
- Flottille 17FLa Glorieuse · Carrier fighter flottille · active
- Dassault Rafale M
- Escadrille 57SFighter school and liaison escadrille · active
- Dassault Falcon 10 MER
- Flottille 14F1968–1991
- Vought F-8E(FN) Crusader, Dassault Super-Étendard
- Flottille 16F1969–2000
- Dassault Étendard IVP
- Flottille 15F1967–1969
- Dassault Étendard IVM
- Flottille 4FLa quatre · Airborne early warning flottille · active
- Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 2000
- Flottille 21FMaritime patrol flottille · active
- Dassault-Breguet Atlantique 2
- Flottille 23FMaritime patrol flottille · active
- Dassault-Breguet Atlantique 2
- Flottille 24FMaritime surveillance flottille · active
- Dassault Falcon 50M Surmar
- Flottille 28FSupport and liaison flottille · active
- إمبراير إي إم بي-121 شينغو
- Flottille 25F (detached elements)Overseas maritime surveillance flottille · active
- Dassault Falcon 200 Gardian
- Flottille 22F1962–1996
- Lockheed P-2 Neptune, Dassault-Breguet Atlantic
- Flottille 25F (Neptune era)1953–1983
- Lockheed P-2 Neptune
- Flottille 10F1951–1960
- Avro Lancaster
- Flottille 32FSearch and rescue and support flottille · active
- Airbus Helicopters H160
- Flottille 33FAnti-submarine and multi-mission helicopter flottille · active
- NHIndustries NH90 Caïman Marine
- Flottille 34F / ESHEEmbarked helicopter flottille and training school · active
- Airbus Helicopters AS365 N3 / N3+ Dauphin
- Escadrille 50SInitial flying training escadrille · active
- Mudry CAP 10
- Escadrille 22S1964–2020
- Sud-Aviation SA316 / SA319 Alouette III
- Flottille 31F (Lanvéoc era)1957–1979
- Sikorsky HSS-1
- Flottille 31FAnti-submarine and multi-mission helicopter flottille · active
- NHIndustries NH90 Caïman Marine
- Flottille 35FSearch and rescue and carrier plane-guard flottille · active
- Aérospatiale SA365 N / AS365 N3+ Dauphin SP
- Flottille 36FAnti-surface helicopter and drone flottille · active
- Airbus Helicopters AS565 Panther
- CEPA / 10SNaval aviation trials and acceptance centre · active
- All naval types
- École du personnel du pont d’envolFlight-deck personnel school · active
- —
- Flottille 28F detachmentLiaison detachment · active
- إمبراير إي إم بي-121 شينغو
- Escadrille 59S1956–1997
- Fouga CM.175 Zéphyr
- Detachment of flottille 32FSearch and rescue detachment · active
- Airbus Helicopters H160
- Detachment of flottille 35FSearch and rescue detachment · active
- Aérospatiale SA365 N Dauphin SP
- Detachment of flottille 35FSearch and rescue detachment · active
- Aérospatiale SA365 N Dauphin SP
- Detachment of flottille 25FOverseas maritime surveillance detachment · active
- Dassault Falcon 50M Surmar
- Detachment of flottille 35FSearch and rescue detachment · active
- Airbus Helicopters AS365 N3+ Dauphin SP
- Detachment of flottille 34FShipborne support detachment · active
- Airbus Helicopters AS365 N3+ Dauphin FI
- Detachment of flottille 25FOverseas maritime surveillance detachment · active
- Dassault Falcon 200 Gardian
- Detachment of flottille 34FShipborne support detachment · active
- Airbus Helicopters AS365 N3+ Dauphin FI
- Detachment of flottille 34FShipborne support detachment · active
- Airbus Helicopters AS365 N3+ Dauphin FI
- Detachment of flottille 36FAnti-surface helicopter detachment · active
- Airbus Helicopters AS565 Panther
لا توجد وحدة مطابقة لهذا البحث.
French Naval Aviation milestones, 1914 to today
A commission appointed by the navy minister reports on 1 July that the fleet should buy aeroplanes rather than airships, and that it needs a ship with a launching rail forward and a landing platform aft. The report is treated as the founding document of French maritime aviation.
20 March: a decree creates the service de l’aviation maritime, with the converted cruiser Foudre as its aviation ship, a shore aerodrome at Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël and two aircraft. This is the birthday the Aéronautique navale still keeps.
11 November: French maritime aviation ends the war with 1,135 aeroplanes, about thirty airships, 11,000 people and thirty-two shore bases. Two hundred and forty aircrew have been killed, 103 of them pilots.
20 October: Lieutenant de vaisseau Paul Teste takes off from Le Palyvestre at Hyères in a Hanriot, finds the Béarn in Toulon roads with a white stripe painted on her deck, and lands in under thirty metres. The Marine nationale dates French carrier aviation from that afternoon.
1 May: the Béarn, converted from an unfinished battleship hull, commissions as France’s first aircraft carrier. Escadrille 7B1 with Levasseur PL.4 biplanes lands aboard on 3 May.
March to May: carrier aircraft from the Arromanches و Bois Belleau fly close air support over Điện Biên Phủ. In May and June the Corsairs alone fly 959 sorties and drop over 700 tonnes of bombs, losing six aircraft and two pilots.
November: at Suez the Arromanches و La Fayette put Corsairs and Avengers over Egyptian airfields and armour and cover the French parachute drops at al-Raswa and Port-Fouad — one of the first demonstrations that a carrier can answer a local crisis faster than anything ashore.
ال Clemenceau commissions on 22 November; the Foch follows on 15 July 1963. On 1 May 1961 the Aéronautique navale musters 782 aircraft, 359 of them combat types, and about 10,000 sailors.
1 February: BAN Landivisiau is opened by Charles de Gaulle so that the carriers lying at Brest have their fighter squadrons thirty kilometres away. The first F-8E(FN) Crusaders arrive in March.
27 July: the first Dassault Super-Étendard lands at Landivisiau, replacing the Étendard IVM with flottille 11F. Within a decade the type carries the AN-52 nuclear bomb and then the ASMP missile, giving France a naval air-delivered nuclear weapon.
17 November: in Operation Brochet, eight Super Étendards from the Clemenceau strike the Cheikh Abdallah barracks in the Bekaa valley in retaliation for the Drakkar bombing in Beirut — the first French naval air strike since Algeria.
April to June: the Foch’s Super Étendards fly about 800 sorties over Kosovo and destroy 127 targets with 215 GBU-12 bombs and two AS-30L missiles, a 73 per cent hit rate. It is the last operational mission of the Foch.
18 May: the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle enters service. On 1 December Task Force 473 sails for Afghanistan with sixteen Super Étendards, one E-2C and two Rafale M still on trial; by June 2002 the air group has flown more than 2,700 hours.
20 March to 12 August: the carrier group runs Operation Harmattan off Libya — 148 days away, 138 at sea, 63 of them without a break, 1,350 sorties, 3,600 flying hours and 2,380 catapult launches and arrested landings from a group of just eighteen fixed-wing aircraft.
16 March: the last Super Étendard catapult launch from the Charles de Gaulle. The type is retired at Landivisiau on 12 July after thirty-eight years, and all three fighter flottilles are on the Rafale M. In February 2017 the carrier enters a nineteen-month, 1.3 billion euro mid-life refit that refuels both reactors, rebuilds the combat system and strips out every installation specific to the Super Étendard; she sails again on 14 September 2018.
9 December: the Alouette III is retired at Lanvéoc-Poulmic after sixty years and more than 330,000 flying hours in French naval service, ending the last link with the helicopter fleet of the Clemenceau era.
28 November 2024 to 25 April 2025: mission Clemenceau 25 takes the carrier group to the Indo-Pacific, joining American and Japanese carriers for Pacific Steller, flying Rafale into Darwin from 2,000 km away, and exercising with the Indian carrier Vikrant. On 16 July BAN Landivisiau marks sixty years; on 27 August Contre-amiral David Desfougères takes over as ALAVIA.
18 February: the eighteenth and last Atlantique 2 upgraded to Standard 6 is delivered. 18 March: President Macron names the next carrier France libre, for service in 2038. 8 September: the first two Falcon 2000 LXS Albatros are handed over.
Every campaign French naval aviation has fought, 1914 to today
Thirteen campaigns since 1914 — Indochina, Suez, Algeria, Lebanon, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Libya, the Sahel, Iraq and Syria — flown from four generations of aircraft carrier.
- Indo-Pacific carrier deployments 2019-present Strategic presence, coalition interoperability and freedom of navigation, using the carrier group as an instrument of policy east of Suez
- Opération Chammal — the carrier against Islamic State 2015-2022 Carrier strike and armed reconnaissance against Islamic State, and command of the coalition maritime component
- Opération Harmattan — Libya 2011 Enforcement of UN Security Council resolution 1973: no-fly zone, arms embargo and strikes on regime forces, with the carrier group operating within ten minutes’ flying time of the coast
- Afghanistan — Héraclès and Agapanthe 2001-2011 Carrier strike, close air support and reconnaissance over Afghanistan from the North Arabian Sea, at ranges of 3,000 km requiring three or four air refuellings per sortie
- Sahel — Serval and Barkhane 2013-2022 Airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and laser-guided bombing, flown by land-based Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft over the desert
Everything people ask about the French Naval Aviation
What is the Aéronautique navale?
How many Rafale M does the French Navy have?
Why does the French Navy need its own air force?
Is the Charles de Gaulle really the only nuclear carrier outside the United States?
What are the catapults on the Charles de Gaulle?
How big is the carrier air group?
Which flottille flies what?
What is the difference between the Aéronautique navale and the FANu?
Where do French carrier pilots learn to land on a ship?
When did the Super Étendard retire?
Is it true the Alouette III flew until 2022?
What is the Atlantique 2 Standard 6?
What replaces the Atlantique 2?
Does the French Navy fly drones?
What happened to the aircraft carriers Clemenceau and Foch?
Why does France only have one aircraft carrier?
What is the PA-Ng and when does it arrive?
How many naval air bases does France have?
What does BAN Landivisiau actually do?
Is Lann-Bihoué a military or a civil airport?
Has the French Navy shot anyone down?
How many people does French naval aviation rescue?
What is a chien jaune?
Why are French naval aircraft marked with an anchor?
Can a member of the public visit a French naval air base?
Does noise from the bases cause problems locally?
Read the aircraft the French Naval Aviation flew
كل نوع له صفحة في كتاب الوحوش، في الخدمة أولاً، ثم حسب السنة التي غادر فيها الأسطول.
كل حقيقة، تم التحقق منها
- Ministère des Armées: Un nouveau pacha pour les marins du cielchange of command at Hyères on 27 August 2025, Contre-amiral David Desfougères succeeding Vice-amiral d’escadre Serge Bordarier; 4,450 personnel and nearly 200 aircraft
- Ministère des Armées / Cols bleus: Aéronautique navale115 years of naval aviation, the CEPA/10S at Hyères and its staffing, ALAVIA and the commander
- La Marine recrute: ALAVIA, la force aéronavale française4,500 marins du ciel, 178 aircraft, four bases, 17 specialisations, about 300 lives saved a year
- Ministère des Armées: La Marine réceptionne le dernier Atlantique 2 modernisé au standard 6eighteen ATL2 upgraded, last delivered at Lann-Bihoué on 17 February 2026, Searchmaster radar and mission system
- Zone Militaire (opex360): La Marine nationale a reçu son 18e et dernier Atlantique 2 porté au standard 618 of 22 airframes upgraded, the four unmodernised held as spares, service to about 2035, Searchmaster tracking capacity
- Zone Militaire (opex360): La Marine nationale a reçu ses deux premiers avions de surveillance maritime Falcon 2000 LXS Albatrosdelivery on 8 September 2026, 11 aircraft ordered after cuts from 13 and 12, replacing 8 Falcon 50M and 5 Falcon 200, sensors, delivery schedule, Gardian farewell in Polynesia
- Zone Militaire (opex360): Northrop Grumman lance la production du premier E-2D Advanced Hawkeye destiné à la Marine nationalethree aircraft, about 360 million dollars contracted December 2021, first delivery 2027, replacing three E-2C of flottille 4F
- Zone Militaire (opex360): Avec ses Rafale M vieillissants, l’aéronavale française s’attend à une situation “sensible et difficile à gérer”41 Rafale M, recognised format of 51, mixed F2/F3/F4 standards, accelerated fatigue, F5 timing, Amiral Vaujour’s assessment
- Zone Militaire (opex360): LPM actualisée — la Marine nationale devra encore patienter pour remplacer ses Rafale les plus anciens42 Rafale M with 36 across three flottilles, sixth tranche of 45 with 12 for the navy, priority to the strategic air forces before 2035, naval F5 towards 2038
- Zone Militaire (opex360): La Marine nationale fait ses adieux à l’hélicoptère Alouette IIIretirement at Lanvéoc-Poulmic on 9 December 2022, 60 years, 37 aircraft, 330,000 flying hours, interim Dauphin and H160, Guépard from 2028
- Zone Militaire (opex360): Spécialistes de la lutte anti-sous-marine, les hélicoptères Lynx ont tiré leur révérenceLynx retired at Lanvéoc-Poulmic on 4 September 2020, flottille 34F stood down and re-formed on the Dauphin in January 2021
- Zone Militaire (opex360): Le Super Frelon est retiré du serviceretirement on 30 April 2010 with flottille 32F at Lanvéoc-Poulmic, 135,000 flying hours, about 2,150 people rescued, EC225 and NH90 replacement
- Zone Militaire (opex360): La Marine nationale va finalement équiper ses frégates multimissions avec des drones aériens Schiebel S-100January 2026 SDAM orders: five S-100F systems for the FREMM and six VSR700 for the replenishment ships, endurance and payload figures, PC-24 and PC-7 MKX programmes
- Le Portail des Passionnés d’Aviation: Le SEM définitivement retiré du servicelast catapult launch 16 March 2016, retirement ceremony at Landivisiau 12 July 2016, about 1,500 guests, 38 years in service with flottille 17F
- Ministère des Armées: La base d’aéronautique navale de Landivisiau fête ses 60 ans60th anniversary on 16 July 2025, 370 hectares across five communes, “le porte-avions de granit”, the only carrier-fighter land base in Europe, units and aircraft history
- Cols bleus: La base d’aéronautique navale de Landivisiau fête ses 60 ansthe navy magazine account of the anniversary, published 18 July 2025
- Ministère des Armées / Cols bleus: Base d’aéronautique navale de Hyères, un siècle d’histoire et d’adaptationfounded 1925, Paul Teste’s landing of 20 October 1920, closure in 1942 and recovery in 1944, the move of helicopter flottilles from Saint-Mandrier in 2004, 1,600 people including 300 civilians, 24,000 movements a year, flottilles 31F, 35F, 36F
- Ministère des Armées: Établissement d’aéronautique navale de Dugny-Le Bourgetnaval air base from 1955, escadrilles 31S and 11S, maritime patrol command 1973–1998, establishment status from 1998, closed 30 June 2011
- Bulletin officiel des armées: Instruction no. 24/DEF/EMM/ROJ relative à l’organisation de la force maritime de l’aéronautique navale, 11 October 2021the legal basis of the force’s organisation and of ALAVIA’s organic command, published 29 October 2021
- Bureau enquêtes accidents défense: rapport BEAD-air-D-2009-010-Aofficial investigation into the mid-air collision of Rafale M22 and M25 of flottille 12F on 24 September 2009, attributing it to human factors
- Assemblée nationale: commission de la défense nationale et des forces armées, compte rendu no. 28, 12 March 2019hearing including Amiral Jean-Philippe Rolland on what a carrier strike group does for the ships around it
- Henri-Pierre Grolleau, Le "Charles de Gaulle" en action, Marines Éditions, Rennes, 2014source of the quotations from Capitaine de vaisseau Éric Aymard (COMGAé) and Contre-amiral Hervé de Bonnaventure (ALAVIA), including the Bosnia and Libya sortie comparison
- Ministère des Armées / DGA: La DGA lance deux études d’architectures de l’avion de patrouille maritime futurthe two architecture studies for the Atlantique 2 successor
- Omnirole Rafale: accident and withdrawal registerindividual Rafale M losses and incidents by airframe number, date, unit and cause
- SIA France: AIP and VAC charts for French military and mixed aerodromesICAO codes, runway designators, lengths, surfaces and elevations for LFRJ, LFRH, LFRL, LFTH, LFRC, LFAT, LFBH, LFTW, LFTF and LFPB
- French Fleet Air Arm (ffaa.net): base histories, unit chronologies and aircraft inventoriesthe specialist reference for French naval air station histories, flottille and escadrille dates, and type-by-type delivery and withdrawal records
- Net-Marine: aviation navale, bases and unit historiesreference pages on French naval air bases including Saint-Mandrier, and on aircraft and carriers
- Ministère des Armées: L’aéronautique navalethe navy’s own presentation of the force, its missions and its bases
- Ministère des Armées: Chiffres clés de la Défense 2026table 7.2 Marine nationale, chiffres au 31 décembre 2025: Atlantique 2 (19)
- DSAE/DIRCAM MILAIP France: MIAC2 LFRL Lanvéoc-PoulmicARP 48 16 57N 004 26 37W, ALT AD 287 ft
- DSAE/DIRCAM MILAIP France: MIAC2 LFTH Hyères-Le PalyvestreALT AD 13 ft (1 hPa); ARP 43 05 50N 006 08 46E
تم التحقق من الأرقام بتاريخ 2026-09-13. يتم إعادة إنشاء صفحات ترتيب المعركة من مجموعة بيانات واحدة؛ إذا كان هناك رقم هنا يختلف عن صفحة كتاب الوحوش، فإن هذه الصفحة هي الأحدث من بين الصفحتين.
Photographs: Petty Officer 2nd Class John Wagner, US Navy, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons