French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: ''Aéronavale'' (contraction of Aéronautique navale), or ''Aviation navale'', or more simply ''l'Aéro'') is the naval air arm of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. The long-form official designation is ''Force maritime de l'aéronautique navale''. Born as a fusion of aircraft carrier squadrons and the naval patrol air force, the ''Aéronavale'' was created in 1912. The force is under the command of a

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

officially titled Admiral of Naval Aviation (ALAVIA) with his headquarters at Toulon naval base. It has a strength of around 6,800 military and civilian personnel. It operates from four airbases in Metropolitan France and several detachments in foreign countries or French overseas territories. Carrier-borne pilots of the French Navy do their initial training at Salon-de-Provence Air Base after which they undergo their carrier qualification with the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Aircraft inventory

, - , Bréguet Atlantique II , , France , , Turboprop , , ASW , , , , 22 , , , , , - , Dassault Falcon 10 M , , France , , Jet , , Utility , , , , 6 , , , , , - , Dassault Falcon 50 M , , France , , Jet , , Patrol , , , , 8 , , , , , - , Dassault Falcon 200 Guardian , , France , , Jet , , Patrol , , , , 5 , , , , , - , Dassault Rafale M , , France , , Jet , , Multirole , , , , 42 , , , , , - ,

Embraer EMB 121 Xingu The Embraer EMB 121 Xingu (pronounced "''shingoo''") is a twin-turboprop fixed-wing aircraft built by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer. The design is based on the EMB 110 Bandeirante, using its wing and engine design merged with an a ...

, , Brazil , , Turboprop, , Utility , , , , 11 , , , , , - , Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin , , France , , Rotorcraft , , SAR , , , , 15 , , , , , - ,

Eurocopter AS565 Panther The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) AS565 Panther is the military version of the Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin medium-weight multi-purpose twin-engine helicopter. The Panther is used for a wide range of military roles, including combat assault, f ...

, , France , , Rotorcraft , , Utility , , , , 16 , , , , , - ,

Grumman E-2C Hawkeye The Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft ...

, , USA , , Turboprop , , AEW&C , , , , 3 , , , , , - , Mudry CAP 10 , , France , , Propeller , , Trainer , , , , 7 , , , , , - , NHIndustries NH90 Caïman Marine , , France , , Rotorcraft , , ASW/ SAR , , , , 27 , , , , , - ,

Airbus Helicopters H160 The Airbus Helicopters H160 (formerly X4) is a medium utility helicopter being developed by Airbus Helicopters. Formally launched at Heli-Expo in Orlando, Florida on 3 March 2015, it is intended to replace the AS365 and EC155 models in the fi ...

, , France , , Rotorcraft , , ASW/ SAR , , , , 6 , , , ,

Structure

Immediately after the end of

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 opposing ...

, the ''Aeronavale'' only had Supermarine Seafire Mk.III ( Flottille 1F) and

Douglas SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/di ...

dive bombers ( Flotilles 3F et 4F).

Components

The flight personnel of the French Navy falls into three categories: fighter aviation, fixed-wing aviation and helicopter aviation. Operationally the French Naval Aviation has four components: * Embarqued Air Group (''Le Groupe aérien embarqué'') of the aircraft carrier : Rafale M, E-2C Hawkeye * Naval Patrol and Maritime Surveillance Aviation (''l'Aviation de patrouille et de surveillance maritime''):

Atlantique 2 Atlantique may refer to: * ''Atlantique'' (film), a 2019 film * Atlantique Department in Benin * SNCF's TGV Atlantique class of high-speed trains * The Breguet Atlantique airplane * Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire-based shipyard * The V ...

Falcon 50 The Dassault Falcon 50 is a French super-midsize, long-range business jet, featuring a trijet layout with an S-duct air intake for the central engine. It has the same fuselage cross-section and similar capacity as the earlier twin-engined Falcon ...

, Falcon 200 * Shipborne and Shore-based Helicopters (''Les hélicoptères embarqués et basés à terre''): Dauphin, Panther, Caïman Marine * Support Aviation (''l'Aviation de soutien''): Falcon 10, EMB-121 Xingu, SR20,

Cap-10 The Mudry CAP 10 is a two-seat training aerobatic aircraft first built in 1970 and still in production in 2007. The plane was developed from the Piel Super Emeraude and was born as the CP100. The name changed to CAP 10, CAP for 'Constructions Aér ...

, Dauphin, EC120 Colibri

Units

Operational squadrons are known as ''Flottilles'' and normally consist of 12 aircraft : *1F to 10F are carrier based anti-submarine squadrons *11F to 20F are fighter and attack squadrons *21F to 30F are maritime patrol squadrons *31F to 39F are helicopter squadrons Shore-based training and transport squadrons are known as ''Escadrilles de Servitude'' : *1S to 19S are communications squadrons *20S to 29S are helicopters squadrons *50S to 59S are training squadrons

Retired aircraft

This is a list of retired aircraft that has flown with French Naval Aviation. * Amiot AAC.1 (Junkers Ju 52) *

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCA ...

* Avro Lancaster Mk.VII * Beechcraft SNB-5/JRB-4 * Blanchard Brd.1 HB3 * Blériot-SPAD S.42 * Bloch MB.151 C1 * Borel-Odier T BO-2 * Breguet BRE.14B2/A2 * Breguet BRE.19 B2 French TBM-3E of Flotille 4F in flight 1950s

French TBM-3E of Flotille 4F in flight 1950s

Bréguet 521 Bizerte The Bréguet 521 ''Bizerte'' was a long-range military Aerial reconnaissance, reconnaissance flying boat built by the France, French aviation company Breguet Aviation, Breguet. Development A biplane of all-metal construction, with three engines ...

* Bréguet 1050 Alizé * Bréguet 1150 Atlantic * CAMS 30E * CAMS.37A/37²/37.11/Lia * CAMS 46 Et2 * CAMS 55.1/55.2/55.6/55.10 * Caudron Cau 59 ET2 * Caudron C635 Simoun * Caudron C.445 Goéland F4U-7 NAN3-53

* Canadian Car & Foundry Harvard II * Chance Vought F4U-7/AU-1 Corsair * Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina * Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer * Coutant RMC Type 17 * Curtiss SB2C4/SB2C5 Helldiver *

Dassault Étendard IV The Dassault Étendard IV is a transonic carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation. It is the first indigenously designed carrier-capable jet aircraft to be produced in France. ...

M/P * Dassault MD 312 Flamant *

Dassault Super Étendard Dassault Group (; also GIM Dassault or Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault SAS) is a French group of companies established in 1929 with the creation of Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (now Dassault Aviation) by Marcel Dassault, and led by son ...

* De Havilland 100 Vampire Mk.V * Dewoitine 7 C1 * Dewoitine D.373/D.376 * Dewoitine D.510 * Dewoitine D.520 * Donnet-Denhaut 140/150 hp * Donnet-Denhaut 160 hp * Donnet-Denhaut 200 HP HS Triplace/RR/BB * Donnet-Denhaut 275hp * Donnet-Denhaut bimoteur *

Dornier Do 24 The Dornier Do 24 is a 1930s German three-engine flying boat designed by the Dornier Flugzeugwerke for maritime patrol and search and rescue. A total of 279 were built among several factories from 1937 to 1945. Design and development The Dorni ...

T *

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/div ...

* Douglas C-47D Dakota * Farman Lévy HB2 450 hp * Farman F60 Torp Goliath/F65 * Farman F.165/F.166/F.168 Torp * Farman F.223.4 * FBA Type C *

FBA Type H The FBA Type H was a French reconnaissance flying boat produced in large numbers in France and Italy during World War I by Franco-British Aviation. Design and development A development of the FBA Type A, the Type H shared the same basic pushe ...

* FBA Type S * FBA type 14 HE2 * FBA.17HL1/HL2/HMT2/HE2 * FBA.19HMB2 * Fouga CM.175 Zéphyr * Georges Lévy 280 HB.2 * Gourdou Leseurre ET1 Type 22 * Gourdou Leseurre LGL.32 * Gourdou Leseurre GL.810/811/812/813 HY * Gourdou Leseurre GL.832 HY *

Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

* Grumman TBM-3S/E/W/UT Avenger * Grumman JRF-5 Goose * Hanriot HD.2 C.1 * Hanriot HD.3 C.2 * Hanriot HD.14 E.2 * Hanriot HD.17 E.2 * Hanriot H.41 *

Junkers Ju 188 The Junkers Ju 188 was a German ''Luftwaffe'' high-performance medium bomber built during World War II, the planned follow-up to the Ju 88 with better performance and payload. It was produced only in limited numbers, due both to the presence of i ...

* Latécoère 290 * Latécoère 298 * Latham 43 HB.3 * Levasseur PL.4 R3b * Levasseur PL.5 C2b * Levasseur PL.7 T2B2b * Levasseur PL.10 R3b/PL.101 R3b * Levasseur PL.14 Tb2B2 * Levasseur PL.15 T2B2 * Lévy Besson 200 hp * Lioré et Olivier LeO.7.3 * Lioré et Olivier LeO.20 Bn3 * Lioré et Olivier H.13/H.136 * Lioré et Olivier H.43 * Lioré et Olivier H.193 * Lioré et Olivier H.257 Bis/H258 * Lockheed P2V-1 Ventura * Lockheed P2V-6/7 Neptune P5M-2 Aeronavale VP-44 training NAN7-59

* Loire 130 C.l *

Loire 210 The Loire 210 was a French single-seat catapult-launched fighter seaplane designed and built by Loire Aviation for the French Navy. Design and development The Loire 210 was designed to meet a 1933 French Navy requirement for a single-seat catap ...

French F-8E(FN) Crusader in flight over the Med 1976

SPAD S.XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by '' Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Bé ...

C.1 * SPAD XIV Canon * Stinson 105 * Supermarine Seafire Mk.III/IX/XV *

Supermarine Sea Otter The Supermarine Sea Otter was an amphibious aircraft designed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Supermarine. It was the final biplane flying boat to be designed by Supermarine; it was also the last biplane to enter service with bo ...

* Supermarine Walrus * Tampier T.4 *

Taylorcraft L-2 The Taylorcraft L-2 Grasshopper is an American observation and liaison aircraft built by Taylorcraft for the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Design and development In 1941 the United States Army Air Forces ordered four Taylo ...

* Tellier Canon 200 hp * Tellier 200 hp * Tellier 350Hp * Tellier BM 400 hp CanardVoisin

* Villiers Vil.2AM C.2 * Vickers Wellington * Voisin 13,5m *

Voisin Canard The Voisin Canard was an aircraft developed by Voisin brothers during 1910 and first flown early in 1911. It was named the '' Canard'' because of the resemblance of its forward fuselage to that of a duck's long neck while in flight. It was origi ...

* Voisin III * Voisin VIII * Vought V.156-F * Wibault Wib.74 C.1

Helicopters and autogyros

Aérospatiale Alouette II The Aérospatiale Alouette II (, " lark"; company designations SE 313 and SA 318) is a French light helicopter originally manufactured by Sud Aviation and later Aérospatiale. It was the first production helicopter powered by a gas turbine ...

* Aérospatiale Super Frelon *

Bell 47 The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first he ...

* LeO C-30 * Lynx Mk.4(FN) * Piasecki H-21C * Piasecki HUP-2 * Sikorsky H-51 *

Sikorsky S-55 The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw (company model number S-55) was a multi-purpose helicopter used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom ...

* Sikorsky S-58 * Sud-Aviation HSS-1

References & notes

External links

{{Commons category, Naval aviation of France
French Fleet Air Arm
about French naval aviation.
(fr) Association pour la Recherche de Documentation sur l'Histoire de l'Aéronautique Navale (ARDHAN)
Association for Documentation Research on the History of French Naval Aviation.