Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base (french: Base aérienne 709 Cognac-Châteaubernard or BA 709) is a base of the

French Air and Space Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

(Armée de l'air et de l'espace) located in

Châteaubernard Châteaubernard () is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Charente department The following is a list of the 364 communes of the Charente department of France. The communes co ...

, 2.8 kilometres south of

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cog ...

. Both locations are ''

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

'' of the

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' in the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by t ...

région France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collect ...

'' of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The base is home to the Ecole de Pilotage de l'Armee de l'Air, the air force initial pilot training school. It was used by the German

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The Luftwaffe's operations included anti-submarine

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 ''Condor'', also known as ''Kurier'' to the Allies (English: Courier), was a German all-metal four-engined monoplane originally developed by Focke-Wulf as a long-range airliner. A Japanese request for a long-range maritime p ...

s as late as July 1944.Robin Olds, Fighter Pilot," (St. Martin's Press, New York, 2010) p. 57. He tells of a Condor being shot down by his P-38 squadron as it took off.

Units

Escadron de Drones 1/33 Belfort Escadron de Drones 1/33 Belfort is a French Air and Space Force (Armée de l'air et de l'espace) Drone Squadron located at BA 709 Cognac – Châteaubernard Air Base, Charente, France which operates the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper with a detach ...

with the

General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the Unit ...

* Escadron de Drones 2/33 Savoie with the

* Escadron de Transformation Opérationnelle Drones 3/33 Moselle * École de Pilotage de l’Armée de l’Air 315 Général Jarry with

Pilatus PC-21 The Pilatus PC-21 is a turboprop-powered advanced trainer with a stepped tandem cockpit. It is manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Development In November 1997 Pilatus flew a modified PC-7 Mk.II in order to test improvements for ...

and the Grob * Escadron D'Instruction en Vol 1/13 Artois * Escadron D'Instruction en Vol 2/12 Picardie

References

External links

Official site

BA 709 Cognac
at French Air Force site
Airport Chart
at French Air Force site
''Aéroport de Cognac - Châteaubernard''
page at ''Union des Aéroports Français'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cognac - Chateaubernard Air Base French Air and Space Force bases Buildings and structures in Charente