Armée de l'Air

The French Air Force (French: Armée de l'Air (ALA), literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933. The number of aircraft in service with the French Air Force varies depending on source, however sources from the French Department of Defence give a figure of 710 aircraft in 2013.

Aircraft Inventory[edit | edit source]

Combat Aircraft[edit | edit source]

Dassault Mirage 2000-5F x 32 (Multirole Fighter)
Dassault Mirage 2000N/D x 68 (Tactical Bomber)
Dassault Rafale B/C x 136 (Multirole Fighter) - 116 more on order

AWACS Aircraft[edit | edit source]

Boeing E-3F Sentry x 4 (AWACS Aircraft)

Reconnaissance Aircraft[edit | edit source]

Dassault Falcon 8X Archange x 0 (SIGINT/ELINT Aircraft) - 2 aircraft on order
ASLR VADOR x 2 (ISTAR/SIGINT Aircraft) - 6 more on order

Transport Aircraft[edit | edit source]

Airbus A330 MRTT Phénix x 12 (Aerial Tanker) - 4 more on order
Airbus A330-243 x 4 (VIP Transport) - 4 more on order
Airbus A400M Atlas x 22 (Tactical Transport) - 28 more on order
Boeing KC-130RG Stratotanker x 4 (Aerial Tanker)
CASA/IPTN CN-235M-200/300 x 28 (Transport Aircraft)
Dassault Falcon 7X x 2 (VIP Transport)
Dassault Falcon 900 x 2 (VIP Transport)
Dassault Falcon 2000EX/LX x 2 (VIP Transport)
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter x 6 (Transport Aircraft)
Lockheed C-130H/H-30 Hercules x 16 (Tactical Transport)
Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules x 2 (Tactical Transport)
Lockheed Martin KC-130J Super Hercules x 2 (Aerial Tanker)
Socata TBM 700 x 16 (VIP Transport)

Helicopters[edit | edit source]

Aérospatiale SA330 Puma x 22 (Transport Helicopter)
Airbus Helicopters H160M Guépard x 0 (Utility Helicopter) - 40 aircraft on order
Airbus Helicopters H215 Super Puma x 4 (VIP Transport Helicopter)
Airbus Helicopter H225 Super Puma x 2 (Transport/SAR Helicopter)
Airbus H225M Caracal x 14 (CSAR/SOF Helicopter) - 8 more on order
Eurocopter AS555 Fennec II x 40 (Utility/Training Helicopter)

Trainer Aircraft[edit | edit source]

Cirrus SR20 x 14 (Trainer Aircraft)
Cirrus SR22A x 6 (Trainer Aircraft)
Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet E+ x 80 (Jet Trainer)
Dassault Mirage 2000B x 8 (Conversion Trainer)
Diamond HK36 Super Dimona x 5 (Trainer Aircraft)
Embraer EMB 121 Xingu x 22 (Transport Trainer)
Grob G120A x 18 (Trainer Aircraft)
Pilatus PC-21 x 18 (Trainer Aircraft)
Walter Extra 300 x 3 (Trainer Aircraft)

UAVs[edit | edit source]

EADS Harfang x 4 (Reconnaissance)
General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper x 12 (ISR/Attack Aircraft)
IAI Eitan x 10 (Reconnaissance UAV)