Strategic Air Forces Command


The Strategic Air Forces is a command of the French Air Force. It was created on January 14, 1964, and directs France's nuclear bombardment force.
The headquarters was formerly at Taverny Air Base, but has now moved to Vélizy – Villacoublay Air Base.

Général de corps aérien Patrick Charaix is the current commander. This is the equivalent of a lieutenant-general's position. He took command in 2012, after a year as the deputy commander. He took over from General Paul Fouilland, in command from 2007-2012.

History

Initially, the Force de Frappe consisted of only of the 92 Bombardment Wing, established in 1955 and operating 40 Sud Aviation Vautour IIB bombers. These were considered marginal for a strategic bomber role and work began almost immediately on a replacement. In May 1956 a requirement for what became the Dassault Mirage IV bomber was drawn up; this bomber was designed to carry nuclear gravity bombs over targets in the Eastern bloc at supersonic speeds and was declared operational in October 1964.

In May 1964, Genéral Marie, FAS commander, was replaced by Général Philippe Maurin, former commander of the Tactical Air Forces and French Air Force chief of staff in 1967.
The first alert by a Dassault Mirage IV armed with AN-11 bombs, and a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker was executed on October 8, 1964: from that point, a permanent alert was maintained. Accordingly, the French aircraft carrier Verdun was envisaged to have deployed bomber aircraft at sea.
In April 1965, an intermediate-range ballistic missile launch base, part of the Strategic Air Forces was established. It was set up on the :fr:plateau d'Albion|plateau d'Albion, Air Base 200 Apt-Saint-Christol and equipped with underground launch missile silos. It was operational from August 2, 1971, until dismantling on September 16, 1996.
In the spring of 1966, the deterrent force reached the strength of nine squadrons. In 1973, this deterrence force comprised 60 Mirage IV spread on nine bases of the French metropolitan territory.
The Mirage IV-P version armed with the ASMP-A missile entered service in 1986. From 1988, Mirage 2000N began to enter service. All bomber versions of the Mirage IV were retired by 1996.
Since the 1990s, Strategic Air Forces aircraft may also be tasked to carry out conventional air strikes as part of France's exterior military operations.

Organization

From 1963 - 2007, the Strategic Air Forces were headquartered at an underground command centre, which also welcomed the same year the Operations Center of the Strategic Air Forces. The command post was built 50 meters under the ground, with a fallout shelter destined for the executive power in case of Nuclear war; this command post was in full use in 1967. In 1968, CFAS headquarters was located at Taverny Air Base under the Montmorency Forest.
In 1968, at the peak of the highest alert phases, 62 Mirage IV formed the nucleus of the 3 Escadres Bombardment , 91e EB - the 93rd Bombardment Escadre, 93 e EB -, and the 94th Bombardment Escadre representing several bombardments units out of which 1 training center:
Jointly, can be added 12 Boeing C-135F aerial refuelling aircraft, dispersed into 3 Escadrons :
In addition to the command, can be added Aerial Base Apt-Saint-Christol. BA 200 was created in April 1967 under the Plateau d'Albion.
Independent from the Strategic Air Forces, several installations were utilized by the latter:
In 1985, CFAS had two squadrons of S-3 IRBMs at the Plateau d'Albion, six squadrons of Mirage IVAs, and three squadrons of KC-135Fs, as well as the training/reconnaissance unit, CIFAS 328, at Bordeaux.

On 16 July 1999, BA 200 on the Plateau d'Albion was transferred and renamed as Quartier Maréchal Kœnig, to house the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment and the bi-static space surveillance station GRAVES of the General Directorate for External Security.
FAS Headquarters was moved on 26 September 2007 from Taverny to Air Base 942 Lyon – Mont Verdun under Mount Verdun. Lyon - Mont Verdun was originally a secondary operations centre.
In 2008, 60 Mirage 2000N of the Strategic Air Forces are stationed at two Aerial Bases.
In 2014, the Strategic Air Forces comprise two nuclear squadrons with more than 43 aircraft, numbering around 1400 personnel:
The Mirage 2000N was planned to be retired from service in September 2018, with the La Fayette Squadron converting to Rafale B. Both fighter squadrons were to be stationed at Saint-Dizier – Robinson Air Base in order to improve training and logistics. Forward operating locations for dispersion of nuclear-armed Rafale flights will be retained at other air bases, in line with the French redundancy practice to prevent taking out the aerial nuclear arm with a single massive strike.
Strategic Air Forces also consists of the Groupe de Ravitaillement en Vol 02.091 Bretagne operating on 14 KC-135 based on an Aerial Base and will be replaced by 12 Airbus A330 MRTT « Phénix » between 2018 and 2025.

Nuclear Arm Depots

During the retrieval service, between 1986 and 1989, of the numerous AN-22 bomb equipping the Mirage IV bombardment units, a new generation of airborne missile arms were placed in service. These arms are maintained in operational conditioning and stocked in various designated special munitions depots, which are highly protected sites on different Aerial Bases.
As of 2010, the Air-Sol Moyenne Portée of new generation is destined for the Strategic Air Forces of the French Air Force and the French Naval Nuclear Force of the French Navy. The new equipment is of an estimated power mass of 300 kt.
As of end of 2008 and until 2012, depots were reorganized at the occasion of the arrival of the ASMPA missile to be re-baptized under another ASMPA depot vector. The special munitions depot change frequently. The DVA is confined to the squadron during the placement in effect, while the TNA are handled differently, in a specialized zone that is very well protected.