| Aéronavale French Naval Aviation |
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|---|---|
| Founded | 1910 |
| Country | France |
| Size | 208 aircraft |
| Part of | French Navy |
| Insignia | |
| Roundels | |
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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 Aviation navale was created on the 19 June 1998. The headquarters is under command of an admiral (ALAVIA) in Toulon naval base.
The French Naval Aviation has a strength of around 6,800 civilian and military personnel. They operate from six airbases, five of them in Metropolitan France and one overseas.
Cborne pilots of the French navy do their initial training at Salon-de-Provence Air Base, then with the US Navy.
Contents |
Complete and correct as of 8 February 2011.
| Aircraft | Photo | Role | Quantity[1] | Squadron | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed-wing aircraft | ||||||||
| Dassault Rafale | Multi-role fighter | 18 | 12F | |||||
| Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard | Attack | 36 | 11F,17F | |||||
| Grumman E-2 Hawkeye | Airborne early warning | 3 | 4F | |||||
| Breguet Atlantic | Maritime patrol | 22 | 21F,23F | |||||
| Dassault Falcon 20 | Surveillance | 5 | 25F | |||||
| Dassault Falcon 50 | Surveillance | 4 | 24F | |||||
| Embraer EMB 121 Xingu | Support & training | 11 | 24F,28F | |||||
| Mudry CAP 10 | Support & training | 7 | 50S | |||||
| MS-88 Rallye | Support & training | 9 | 50S | |||||
| Helicopters | ||||||||
| Westland Lynx | Maritime helicopter | 26 | 34F | |||||
| NHIndustries NH90 Caiman | Anti-submarine helicopter | 3 | 31F | |||||
| Eurocopter Panther | Anti-submarine helicopter | 16 | 36F | |||||
| Eurocopter Dauphin | Search & rescue | 11 | 35F | |||||
| Eurocopter EC225 | Search & rescue | 2 | 32F | |||||
| Aérospatiale Alouette III | Training & utility | 18 | 22S | |||||
Operational squadrons are known as Flotilles and normal consist of 12 aircraft:
Shore-based training and transport squadrons are known as Escadrilles de Servitude:
The French Naval Aviation has four components:
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