French Air and Space Force

France receives 21st A400M Atlas from Airbus

France’s Directorate General of Armaments announced that it had accepted delivery of another Airbus A400M Atlas heavy-lift tactical transport on February 14, increasing the number of examples delivered to the French Air and Space Force to 21 airframes

Feature Premium

Inside rare French Rafale C Baltic Air-Policing deployment

As the Rafale Cs of French Air and Space Force take on Baltic Air-Policing duties, Babak Taghvaee examines how they are protecting NATO territory

Feature Premium

Exercise Volfa 2022: Inside one of France’s largest ever combat air drills

Nine air powers gathered for the French Air and Space Force-hosted Exercise Volfa 2022. AirForces Monthly reports on the high intensity operations that were carried out during the latest edition of the event

France pushes forward with CN-235M avionics upgrade

In a bid to modernise the French Air and Space Force’s matured Airbus CN-235M-200/300 fleet, France’s defence procurement agency – the Directorate General of Armaments – has contracted a consortium formed by Sabena Technics and Thales to upgrade the avionics of the twin-turboprop tactical transports

Rafale deliveries to France restart after four-year hiatus

Dassault Aviation’s production facility in Mérignac delivered a dual-seat Dassault Rafale B (F3-R) to the French Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA; Directorate General of Armaments) on December 29, marking the first delivery of a new-build example of the multi-role fighter to France in four years.

Feature Premium

Why France chose the Archangel after retiring the C-160G Gabriel

When France retired its Gabriel intelligence aircraft the search began for a replacement. Thomas Withington reveals how it was decided to switch to the Dassault Falcon 8X Archangel

Airbus delivers 20th A400M Atlas to France

France’s Directorate General of Armaments announced that it had accepted delivery of another Airbus A400M Atlas heavy-lift tactical transport on December 1, increasing the number of examples delivered to the French Air and Space Force to 20 airframes

Feature Premium

Fuelling NATO's Firepower: Tankers flock to Lanzarote for EART 2022

French, Italian and Canadian tanker aircraft gathered in Lanzarote to take part in the European Air Refuelling Training exercise. AirForces Monthly reports

News Premium

France's tenth A330-243MRTT Phénix tanker takes flight

The tenth Airbus A330-243MRTT Phénix multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) for the French Air and Space Force completed its first post-conversion test flight on November 25

UK, France take on simulated air threat in Exercise Griffin Dawn

RAF-operated Typhoon FGR4s and F-35B Lightning IIs recently joined forces with Rafale B/C (F3-R) multi-role fighters from the French Air and Space Force to respond to a simulated air threat during Exercise Griffin Dawn