Branch French Air Force Colors red | Type Major Command | |
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Active 14 January 1964 - present Role Strategic deterrence and nuclear warfighting Garrison/HQ Vélizy – Villacoublay Air Base | ||
The Strategic Air Forces Command (Commandement des forces aérienne stratégiques) (CoFAS) is a command of the French Air Force. It was created on 14 January 1964 and is responsible for the use of nuclear weapons.
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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
The first nuclear alert by a Dassault Mirage IV, supported by a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker tanker took place on 8 October 1964, armed with AN-11 nuclear bombs. This date marks the beginning of the operational duty of the French Force de Frappe (Strike Force). It was planned between 1958 and 1961 that the aircraft carrier Verdun be built to deploy bombers at sea.
Initially, the Force de Frappe consisted of only of the 92 Bombardment Wing (Escadre), 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. It has been modernized since then. The Mirage IV-P version armed with the ASMP-A missile entered service in 1986. All bomber versions of the Mirage IV retired in 1996 and replaced by Mirage 2000N (entering service from 1988).
In May 1964, Genéral Marie, FAS commander, was replaced by Général Philippe Maurin, former commander of the Tactical Air Forces (FATAC) and French Air Force chief of staff in 1967.
The mission of the Mirage IV was, beginning with a supersonic high-altitude flight (Mach 1.95 at 18,000 m), to deliver a nuclear bomb in as stealthy a way as possible (to a target determined by its own geographical location), with a circular error probable (CEP) of 90% (
Structure
In 1968, CFAS headquarters was located at Taverny Air Base (BA 921) under the Montmorency Forest. The base had a fallout shelter. Headquarters was moved on 26 September 2007 to Air Base 942 Lyon – Mont Verdun under Mount Verdun.
In 1968, the command included at least 62 Mirage IVs. Eighteen were on operational alert at under 15 minutes readiness, from 1964 to 1990. They formed 3 bombardment wings with 9 bombardment and one training squadrons:
Quickly cuts began to occur, with EB 2/91 'Bretagne' disbanding in July 1966, and EB 3/91, EB 3/93, and EB 1/93 in 1976, though EB3/91 was later reraised through the disbandment of EB 2/93.
There were also 12 Boeing C-135F aerial refuelling aircraft (of which 3 were on operational alert), divided into 3 escadrons (ERV) :
Finally the command also included:
In 1985, CFAS had two squadrons of S-3 IRBMs at the Plateau d'Albion, six squadrons of Mirage IVAs (at Mont de Marsan, Cazaux, Orange, Istres, St Dizier, and EB 3/94 at Luxeuil), 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 (2e REG) and the bi-static space surveillance station GRAVES of the General Directorate for External Security.
At the end of 2010, there were no more than two nuclear squadrons, each of 20 aircraft, as part of the FAS: Escadron de chasse 1/91 Gascogne at Saint-Dizier – Robinson Air Base equipped with the Rafale B, and Escadron de chasse 2/4 Lafayette at Istres-Le Tube Air Base. EC 2/4, equipped with the Mirage 2000N, was operational with the ASMP-A since 1 October 2009.