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The '''Aviation Navale''' (Naval aviation) of the French Navy includes 162 airplanes (138 of them combat-capable) and 6,800 men, both civilians and military personnel. They operate from six airbases, 5 of them in Metropolitan France and one overseas.
Born as a fusion of carrier squadrons and naval patrol air force, the ''Aviation Navale'' was created on the 19 June 1998. The headquarter is under command of an admiral (ALAVIA) in Toulon.
It has four components:

★ The air complements of the aircraft carrier ''Charles de Gaulle'': Rafale, Super Étendard and E-2 Hawkeye

★ Naval patrol air units: Breguet Atlantique

★ On-board helicopters: Dauphin, Panther, Super Frelon, Lynx, Alouette III

★ Support air units
Carrier-borne pilots of the French navy do their initial training at Salon-de-Provence Air Base, then within the US Navy.

Contents

Aircraft inventory

References

External links

Aircraft inventory

French Naval Aviation operates 224 aircraft, including 60 combat jets and 89 helicopters. 79% of the Navy's aircraft were built in France.
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Aircraft
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Origin
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Type
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Versions
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|In service^[1]
! style="text-align: left; background: #aacccc;"|Notes
|-----
| Aérospatiale Alouette III || || utility helicopter || SA 316B

---

SA 319B || 8

---

14 ||
|-----
| Aérospatiale Super Frelon || || transport helicopter || SA 321G || 9 ||
|-----
| Breguet Atlantique || || maritime patrol || Atlantique 2 || 28 ||
|-----
| Dassault Falcon 20 || || maritime patrol || Falcon 20G Gardian || 5 ||
|-----
| Dassault Falcon 50 || || VIP transport || Falcon 50M || 4 ||
|-----
| Dassault Rafale || || fighter || Rafale M || 15 (60)||
|-----
| Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard || || attack || || 48 ||
|-----
| Embraer EMB 121 Xingu || || trainer || || 12 ||
|-----
| Eurocopter Dauphin || || naval helicopter || SA 365 || 11 ||
|-----
| Eurocopter Panther || || naval helicopter || AS 565MA || 16 ||
|-----
| Grumman E-2 Hawkeye || || airborne early warning || E-2C || 3 || Navy seeks a fourth
|-----
| Mudry CAP 10 || || trainer || CAP 10B || 8 ||
|-----
| Nord 262 || || transport || || 15 ||
|-----
| Westland Lynx || || antisubmarine helicopter || Lynx HAS 4 || 31 ||
|}

References

1. "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', January 15 2007.

External links

★ French Fleet Air Arm , about French naval aviation.