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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0626.PDF
S.O.4050 Vautour prototype (French A.F.). Nord N.C. 856A Norvigie (French A.F.). Potez 75 prototype (French A.F.). Nord 2501 Noratlas (French A.F.). A.A.C.l (Ju S2/3m) of the French A.F. Marcel Dassault 311 (French A.F.). Sipa S.I2 (French A.F.). 626 THE WORLD'S AIR FORCES . . . FLIGHT which is the Commandement, which is responsible for the direc-tion of the D.A.T. forces in a particular territory. Within this territory there will be Zones de Defense Aerienne (Z.D.A.) whichare the executive commands of the Commandement and as such are also responsible for air- sea- and land-rescue operations.Subordinate to the Z.D.A. are the Secteurs, equiyalent to the Sec- tors of our own Fighter Command, whose duty it is to direct andco-ordinate the control and reporting organization for both fighter and anti-aircraft units. The close gun-defence of air bases against medium and low-altitude attacks is the responsibility of the Artillerie de I'Air, while the Genie de I'Air has the task of preparing, maintaining and,should the need arise, destroying the ground installations necessary for the operational formations. The smallest operational units of the French Air Force are thesquadrons (escadrilles), commanded by captains, and these are grouped into wings (escadrons, commandant), groups (escadres,lieutenant-colonel or colonel), demi-brigades (colonel) and finally brigades. None of the latter exist as yet, and units other thanfighters are defined in groupes equivalent to escadrilles. The principal command structure is, however, on a territorialbasis. The smallest unit is the base aerienne, consisting of an escadre, an administration battalion, a major servicing unit (pareatelier) and a radar unit, where applicable. These are under the jurisdiction of the local Region Aerienne (commanded by a general)of which there are five, four in France and the fifth in North Africa. They are numbered (1) Dijon, (2) Paris, (3) Bordeaux,(4) Aix-en-Provence and (5) North Africa. Besides these there are the Commandements de I'Air, known as A.E.F. (AfriqueEquatoriale Francaise), A.O.F. (Afrique Occidentale Francaise), the Commandement of Somalia at Djibuti, A.Or.F. in Madagascar(Afrique Orientale Francaise), Extreme Orient at Saigon and finally the C. de 1'A. de la Zone Strategique d'Afrique Centraleat Colomb Bechar, which is primarily a missile-development com- mand. There is also an independent command which forms partof the NATO organization; called the "ler. CATAC," it has H.Q. at Lahr in the Black Forest, and some of its units are inFrance. The French Air Force's equipment includes the followingfighters: S.N.C.A.S.E. Mistral (Hispano-Nene-engined Vampire development), Marcel Dassault M.D. 450 Ouragan, Mystere IICand IVA, and Republic F-84G. There is one escadre of RF-84G in the ler. CATAC. There are now no bombers, for the B-26s inIndo-China went out of service after the cease-fire there; the Vautour can be expected soon, but the first examples of this typewill be all-weather fighters. There is a possibility that the Potez 75 ground-attack aircraft will be introduced for police work. Theall-weather fighter force is at present composed of one escadre of Meteor N.F.I Is at Tours, but Vautours should soon begin tosupplement these. The transport groups have a few Ju52s (A.A.C.1) and Langue-docs, but rely mainly on C-47 Dakotas and a steadily increasing fleet of Nord 2501 Noratlas, which are giving excellent service. Thefull order is for about 170 of which almost half have been delivered. The trainer situation is rather more complex, since each basic typehas a number of variations according to later modifications and change of power plant. From the basic stage upwards they are theStampe, M.S. 733 Alcyon, S.I.P.A. 121, M.S. 472-476 Vanneau, Lockheed T-33, and, in the twin-engined class, the Marcel Das-sault 315 Flamant series, versions of which have been arranged for several types of training. Artillery spotters include the M.S. 500Criquet (Storch), the Nord N.C. 856A Norvigie, now coming into service, and the S.O. 1221 Djinn helicopter, a pre-series of ten ofwhich is now well under way, to be followed later by a production batch. In addition to the above there is a large variety of light andmedium communications and transport aircraft which are used throughout the Air Force. Most prolific of these are the Nord1100 Noralpha and 1203 Norecrin, with a few Nord 1002 Pin- gouins (Messerschmitt Taifun). The first two types have oncemore gone into production, but will in due course be replaced by the M.S. 760 Paris. Another replacement in this field will be theMax Holste Broussard, 200 of which have been ordered. Of twin- engined types there are the N.C. 700 series Martinet and theS.O. 94 series Corse. As for future equipment, the aim is generally to replace anyforeign types by French designs, and to introduce new aircraft, such as bombers, of which there are none at the moment. Newinterceptors in the prototype stage include the S.O. 9000 Trident, the Nord 1402B Gerfaut, the M.D. Mystere IVB1, IVB2and IVN, and the light fighter and ground attack aircraft known respectively as the Mystere 550 and 26. Another light fighter soonto fly is the Breguet Taon. Under steady development is the Leduc 022 (at present flying in its earlier air-launched 021 form)which should be capable of Mach 2. France, being a continental nation with several land frontiers, is
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