French Navy
From Daily Escape
The French Navy, officially the Marine Royale (French: Royal Navy), is the maritime arm of the French military. It consists of a full range of vessels, from patrol boats to guided missile frigates, and includes three nuclear aircraft carriers and thirty nuclear submarines (twelve of which are SLBM-capable).
The motto of the French Navy is Honneur, Patrie, Valeur, Discipline ("Honour, Homeland, Valour, Discipline"). These words are found on the deck of every ship of the Navy. The Chief of the General Staff is Admiral Alain Oudot de Dainville.
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Organization
As of 2006, the French Navy is the largest naval employer in Western Europe, including, among other things, the Marseille Marine Fire Regiment.
The Navy is organised in five branches:
- The Force d'Action Navale ("Naval Action Force"), surface fleet
- The Force Océanique Stratégique ("Strategic Ocean Force"), strategic nuclear deterrent fleet based at Île Longue
- The Aviation Navale ("Naval Air Force"), ground and sea-based planes and helicopters
- The Fusiliers de Marine ("Naval Fusiliers", ground forces used to secure naval installations) and Commandos de Marine (amphibious assault and other special operations), collectively known as FORFUSCO
- The Gendarmerie Navale, police operations and coast guard
Force d'Action Navale
The Force d'Action Navale (FAN) is the 36,000-man and about 300-ship strong backbone of the French Navy. As of 2007, it is commanded by Vice-Admiral d’Escadre Philippe Sautter.
The ships are divided into seven categories:
- The aeronaval group, which has aircraft carriers for backbone
- The amphibious group, based around the "Projection and Command vessels" (Mistral class landing platform dock, Foudre and Ouragan class landing platform dock class ships)
- Frigates, which act either as protection for the strategic groups, or alone in monitoring, survey, presence, rescue or deterrence missions
- Minesweepers
- "Sovereignty" ships, which are deployed overseas and act as presence and prevention forces
- Support vessels
- Public service ships, and hydrographic and oceanographic vessels
Aeronaval group
The aeronaval group is the main vector for French Navy force projection. It is also one of the components of the nuclear deterrence forces, since the embarked Super Étendard and Rafale planes have nuclear capabilities.
Amphibious group
The French Navy operates eighteen large amphibious ships, which contain smaller landing craft. Aboard are helicopters, troops, and land vehicles.
This force also operates fifteen smaller craft which are based in Fort de France, Toulon, Papeete, Nouméa, and La Réunion.
The amphibious groups include one or several landing ships containing landing craft which allow the projection of inter-arm groups with troops, vehicles and helicopters, and one or several light transport ships which carry motorized infantry companies up to the beaches themselves. They can carry Aérospatiale Puma and Eurocopter Cougar transport helicopters or Aérospatiale Gazelle combat helicopters, the Commandos de Marine, minesweeping units, or Army units.
The landing craft also carry field hospitals fitted with operation blocks. They may also carry a full headquarters for any national or international command.
Frigates
The frigates are the backbone of the French surface fleet. They secure aero-naval space and allow free action to the other components of the Navy. They are specialised according to the threat, typically escorting other forces (aeronaval or ampihbious groups, submarines or civil ships).
Minesweepers
The minesweepers secure major French harbors, especially for the ballistic-missile submarines in Brest, and the attack submarines in Toulon. They also stay available to secure access to Toulon, Marseille, any of the harbors of the Atlantic coast, and any Allied harbor simultaneously.
They are designed to be used within a larger group, interallied or international, in case of mine risks near coasts.
In peace time, these units can bring help and assistance to civilian ships, or search wrecks.
This force includes 3,300 men and:
- 39 minesweepers
- 9 minesweeping diver groups for shallow waters
- Several sonar ships which secure the area around Brest harbor
- 3 command and support ships
Sovereignty vessels
These vessels secure access to harbors and carry out police missions.
There are eighteen Floreal class frigates to perform these tasks, mainly by controlling the large French Exclusive Economic Zone, patrolling ocean waters, carrying out police action, and monitoring fishing activities. They are designed to operate in low-risk environments. Five are presently based overseas.
The patrol boats of the Gendarmerie Maritime carry out police actions at sea.
The fifteen bâtiments de transports légers (BATRAL) are also used to carry supplies in the DOM/TOM.
Support ships
The twelve support ships allow the French naval forces to be present anywhere on the planet, regardless of the remoteness of their bases.
These ships are integrated into tactical groups. They shuttle between harbors and fleets, giving them months of operational capabilities by feeding fuel, ammunitions, food, water, spare parts and mail.
There are also four permanent mechanics ships which can repair other ships.
Hydrographic and oceanographic vessels
Three hydrooceanographic and twelve hydrographic ships help carrying out mapping and research operations, as well as gathering intelligence which could prove useful to the deployment of naval forces and their weapon systems. They operate under the service hydrographique et océanographique de la marine (SHOM).
The Monge class trial and measurement ships are used to develop new weapon systems, especially those related to nuclear deterrence.
Force Océanique Stratégique
The Force Océanique Stratégique (FOST) are the strategic submarine forces of the French Navy. Under command of ALFOST (the Admiral in charge of the FOST), they include:
- The twelve-SSBN Escadrille des Sous-Marins Lanceurs d'Engins (ESNLE), the submarine component of the French nuclear deterrence
- The eighteen-SSN Escadrille des Sous-marins Nucléaires d'Attaque (ESNA)
Aviation Navale
The Aviation Navale (AN) of the French Navy includes 486 airplanes (414 of them combat-capable) and 20,400 men, both civilians and military personnel. They operate from six airbases, five 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 carriers
- Naval patrol air units
- On-board helicopters
- 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.
