Armed Forces of the World
French Air Force
Combat Units: Part 1
l:cupying a unique position as
the largest Western
air arm outside the NATO structure,
=iropean
+rm6e de l'Air (AA) reflects France's individualistic
s:ance in matters of defence. A powerf ul force, the
:A is nevertheless a valuable asset to the West, for
:espite France's withdrawal from NATO's military
:rrength in 1 966, the French government has made
: clear that its armed services will fight alongside
ireir neighbours the moment Europe comes under
artack.
With global responsibilities stretching as far as
:.re Pacific Ocean, the AA is one of the few major air
'crces in Europe to retain a true functional structure,
:cmprising separate commands for Strategic Air
=crces, Air Defence, Transport, Training and Tele-
:cmmunications. A second rare feature, datlng back
:rthe time when aviation was in the hands of the
: rmy, is that combat and transport elements have as
:reir basic unit the wing (escadre), each of which
::mprises two or three squadrons lescadrons)
-rmbered as a function of the wing. (Two flights or
:scadrilleslorm a squadron, but these seldom war-
-ant individual mention.)
Of the three combat commands here considered,
:re Commandement des Forces 46riennes Strat6-
j ques (CoFAS) represents the air and surface ele-
-ents of the French strategic nuclear force. A re-
:rively new command, CoFAs was brought into
:eing in 1964 and now controls two wings of Das-
sault Mirage IVA bombers, a missile squadron, an
rflight-refuelling wing and a conversion unit. The
-eadquarters of what is colloquially known as the
=orce de Dissuasion' is at Taverny, near Paris, but
:rere is also a CoFAS ll at Mt Verdun, Lyon, to
:ssume control in the event of the prime site belng
::t out of action.
Nuclear deterrence
The mainstay of CoFAS is the Mirage lVA, a
::aled-up version of the original delta Mirage series,
:-ginally intended for high-altitude missions and
-cw transferred to the low-level role with a single
-lkiloton AN 22 free-fall nuclear weapon. Delivery
:' 62 Mirage lVAs was completed in 1968. Some of
--re survivors have reconnaissance capabilities,
,',:rilst the balance of the force is assigned to five
:t.radrons, each of four aircraft, a training unit and a
Most of the Mirage lVAs will be phased out during
-^e 1980s, but 18 are in the midst of an upgrading
:'ogramme to Mirage IVP (P6n6tration) standard,
^volving fitment of improved radar and other new
-avigational avionics, as carriers for the ASMP (Air-
Sol Moyenne Portee) 1so-kiloton nuclear stand-off
,',eapon, which will enter service in 1987. The '1 8
',1irage lVPs will remain in use until 1996, when their
:rty will be assumed by the projected SX ICBM.
A successorto the remainder of the Mirage IVA
':rce is already in the flight-test stage in the form of
::e Mirage 2000N (Nucl6aire). a two-seat version of
:re fighter with a strengthened airframe for low-
.vel penetration and with Antilope V terrain-
':llowing radar. A requirement exists for 85 of these
: rcraftto befunded beforetheend of 1988 (thefirst
' o of whichwereauthorized in 1 983) andthese, too,
;, ll receive the ASMP from 19BB onwards.
Like their predecessors. the Mirage 20J0Ns may
:: refuelled in flight by the 11 remaining Boeing
l-135Fs, which serve in three squadrons and have
: :en modif ied for probe-and-drogue replenishment
. a the standard USAF 'flying boom' under the rear
fuselage. The C-l35Fs are to be re-engined with Photographed at their home base ofsr Dizra." d.:s
CFM-56 turbofans to extend their service lives line-up of SEPECATJaryars illusfats the$nEJe-
beyond the end of the century. seat tactical supportJaguar A in tieforegrou:d
France's intermediate-range ballistic missile de- with a pair of two-seat advanced trainurE rragruai;s
behind. These aircraft carry the bayard s fie-he:
terrent is also operated by the AA and housed in two
groups of nine silos, each, on the Plateau d'Albion
and plumes emblem of EC I /7'Provene'.
near Avignon. H ere, the 1 " Groupement de Missiles
Strat6giques has just completed a modernization Dassault's ACF/ACT (Avion de Comcar r, :-=-r--
programme involving installation of 53 missiles ('1- de CombatTactique), of which a tecir'. :,9, ::-:--
megaton warhead) as replacements for the shorter- strator (the ACX) will fly late in 1986 :-:, :=-:-
range S2s. These are to be replaced by the SX, with pire, however, that before the mid-l93-:. l.:-::
intercontinental-class range, around the year 2000. will receive some Mirage F,1s displai{ '-:* '--
defence by the Mirage 2000. allow'ing .^ .z- .'
Potent tactical force phase-out by some (by then) elderly lr,f ':g: r1
N uclear capability is also possessed by the Tactic- The UK and West Germany are cun'€oi r' c s:-:.: -,j
al Air Command (Commandement 46rien Tactique, a joint 'Eurofighter' programme witn ='a-;e :r,:
or CATac), whose principal element is 1 CATac with this may lead to a multi-national aircra-: a:-:-;-
HO at Metz, while 2 CATac (HO at Nancy) is the air such ventures are notoriously difficult tc 3-:-;: -
component of the tri-service Force d'lnterventlon view of differing national requirements, a.l :-e jJ
and is built up in an emergency from CATac squad- may, afterall, receiveawhollyindigeno.rsAC= IJ-
rons on an 'as required' basis, having only two
SEPECAT Jaguar squadrons under its peacetime To be continued
control. Six wings, comprising 19 Squadrons, are
allocated to tactical duties, those primarily assigned
to the Tactical Nuclear Force (Armament Nucl6aire
Tactique, or ANT) carrying the AN 52 15-kiloton
weapon.
Dassault Mirage lllEs predominate in the force,
those of EC 4 being nuclear-tasked, whilst EC 3 is
engaged in defence-suppression duties (with Mar-
tel anti-radar missiles) and EC 13 is strike-
configured. The last mentioned is of note in having
tvvo squadrons of Dassault Mirage 5Fs in its comple-
ment, these having found their way into M service
as a result of an embargoed lsraeli order.
The versatile Jaguar A takes many parts: the one
squadron in EC 3, for example, carries Martels and
has secondary low-altitude air superiority and close-
support roles. Eight more Jaguar squadrons are
tasked with nuclear strike, ECMijamming, conven-
tional strike or rapid deployment, deliveries having
comprised 160 Jaguar As and 40 two-seat Jaguar E
models.
Dassault-Breguet Mirage F.1 s entered CATac ser-
vice in 1983, when the phase-out began of the Mir-
age lllR and Mirage lllRD reconnaissance aircraft in
service with ER 33. The Mirage F.1CR, 64 of which
are required, has been specially adapted for the
reconnaissance role, carrying internal sensors and a With approximately 2 5 2 D ass;::-:-i:e-r:e* -lr. r:n:e
range of centreline pods according to the demands
in sewice witJr thed.r:::6e ds -
F. I s .{;
:*r i(:e
provides France 'spnma;-
of individual missions. Two of ER 33's squadrons interception force as :+e- es=---z==
--=-
--::-:---:'---
have a secondary attack capability. reconnaissance dutres r,': ;si
-*::'-"CF
::c;::;:-::r-
Replacement of the Jaguar and Mirage lll is prog- Shown here is an F. I C- 2 :,: :e---:--g
-
rammed to begin in 1966 with first deliveries of infl igh t- refue I ling p r o be