French Armed Forces
Combined military forces of France
Follow French Armed Forces on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!
| 2025 | Planned entry of Rafale F4 standard into operational service. |
| 2025 | Acacia (Y6041), a projected diving support vessel of the Ophrys class, was expected to enter sea trials. |
| 2025 | Projected commissioning of Amiral Ronarc'h, the first Defence and Intervention Frigate (FDI), with sea trials already underway by late 2024. |
| 2024 | Jacques Chevallier replenishment ship enters service, marking the first vessel of its class with 31,000 tonnes displacement. |
| 2024 | Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai, a Félix Éboué class vessel, is projected to enter service and be based in Papeete. |
| 2024 | Tourville nuclear attack submarine of the Suffren class commissioned, working towards full operational status. |
| 2023 | The Céladon harbour tugboat was commissioned, part of the RP30/RPC30 class which was originally planned to have 20 vessels but was stopped at four units due to cost constraints. |
| 2023 | The French Navy began replacing Éridan class minehunters with the new Système de lutte anti-mines futur (SLAM-F) program. |
| 2023 | Auguste Bénébig, a 1,300-tonne Félix Éboué class patrol vessel, enters service and is based in Noumea. |
| 2023 | Lorraine, the latest Aquitaine class destroyer, is commissioned, furthering the navy's fleet renewal. |
| 2023 | Duguay-Trouin nuclear attack submarine of the Suffren class commissioned. |
| July 2023 | Syracuse 4B telecommunication satellite launched. |
| March 2023 | CSO-3 satellite launched, completing the current Earth observation satellite constellation. |
| March 2023 | The last six student fighter pilots received their badges on Alpha Jet, marking the end of the advanced jet training program with this aircraft. |
| March 22 2023 | Transformed the Territorial Command of the Air and Space Army (CTAAE), formerly the Air Forces Command, on March 22, 2023. |
| 2022 | Ophrys (Y6040), a 105-tonne diving support vessel of the Ophrys class, was commissioned as part of the SLAM-F program. |
| 2022 | The French Army personnel strength recorded 14,155 commissioned officers, 38,684 non-commissioned officers, 61,372 EVAT (Engagés Volontaires de l'Armée de Terre), 466 VDAT (Volontaires de Défense), and 8,119 civilian employees. |
| 2022 | Sébastien Lecornu appointed as Minister of the Armed Forces, taking charge of organizing and managing France's Defence Policy, reporting directly to the President of the Republic. |
| May 2022 | Withdrew the last two Transall C-160 Gabriel reconnaissance aircraft from service. |
| 2021 | Formed the Air Force Firefighters Brigade (Brigade des pompiers de l'air), bringing together rescue and firefighting personnel into 25 units of around 1,500 personnel. |
| 2021 | Alsace, an Aquitaine class air defence and anti-submarine warfare destroyer, is commissioned. |
| November 2021 | All 3 CERES electromagnetic intelligence satellites launched. |
| October 2021 | Syracuse 4A telecommunication satellite launched, succeeding the Syracuse III constellation. |
| August 2021 | Pléiades Neo 4 satellite launched, further expanding France's satellite reconnaissance capabilities. |
| April 2021 | Pléiades Neo 3 satellite launched as part of the new Earth observation constellation. |
| 2020 | Created the Air Force Special Forces Brigade (Brigade des forces spéciales air) on the basis of the former Air Force Security Forces Brigade. |
| 2020 | Garonne, a Loire class vessel, enters service. |
| 2020 | La Combattante, another La Confiance class vessel, enters service and is based in Fort-de-France. |
| 2020 | Dumont d'Urville, a D'Entrecasteaux class vessel, enters service and is based in Fort-de-France. |
| 2020 | Normandie, an Aquitaine class destroyer, is commissioned, continuing the modernization of the French Navy's surface fleet. |
| 2020 | Suffren nuclear attack submarine of the new Suffren class commissioned, marking the start of a planned six-submarine series. |
| December 2020 | CSO-2 satellite launched, continuing the French military Earth observation satellite program. |
| September 10 2020 | Renamed to the French Air and Space Force, reflecting an expanded mission to include outer space operations and signaling a strategic evolution of the military branch. |
| 2019 | Rhône, another Loire class vessel, enters service. |
| July 2019 | Official designation changed from Air Army (Armée de l'air) to Air and Space Army (Armée de l'air et de l'espace), transforming the previous Inter-Service Space Command into the Space Command and absorbing it into the Air and Space Force as its fourth command. |
| 2018 | Loire, a vessel of the Loire class, enters service as part of the French Navy's Atlantic fleet. |
| December 2018 | CSO-1 satellite launched as part of the Earth observation constellation, succeeding the Helios 2 constellation. |
| 2017 | Champlain, another D'Entrecasteaux class vessel, enters service and is based in Réunion. |
| 2017 | La Confiance, a 700-tonne patrol vessel, enters service and is based in Guiana. |
| 2017 | L'Astrolabe, an icebreaker/support vessel/offshore patrol ship, enters service and is based in Réunion, co-operated by the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) Administration and the French Navy. |
| 2017 | The ministry was renamed from Ministry of Defence to Ministry of Armed Forces under the leadership of President Emmanuel Macron, signaling a potential shift in administrative approach to military organization. |
| July 21 2017 | French Army General François Lecointre takes over as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, succeeding Pierre de Villiers. |
| July 20 2017 | French Army General Pierre de Villiers resigns from his position as Chief of the Defence Staff (CEMA), reportedly in protest against defence budget cuts that contradicted previous spending assurances. |
| 2016 | D'Entrecasteaux, an offshore patrol/support/assistance vessel of the D'Entrecasteaux class, enters service and is based in Noumea. |
| 2016 | The French Army underwent a major reorganization, restructuring its divisions and brigades. This included creating two combined divisions based on the heritage of 1st and 3rd Armored divisions, establishing three combat brigades under each division, reforming the 4th Airmobile Brigade, and creating specialized division-level commands. |
| November 2015 | Opération Sentinelle was reinforced following the Paris attacks, becoming part of a state of emergency due to continued terror threats. |
| November 5 2015 | French president François Hollande officially inaugurated the new French Defence Ministry headquarters at Balard Site, nicknamed Hexagone Balard or 'Balardgon', which concentrates all components of the French Armed Forces in a 250,000 square metres building spanning 39.5 acres. |
| June 25 2015 | The French Air Force headquarters moved from the former Paris Air Base (BA 117) to the new Balard armed forces complex in Paris. |
| January 2015 | Opération Sentinelle launched in the aftermath of the Île-de-France attacks, deploying 10,000 soldiers and 4,700 police and gendarmes to protect sensitive territories from terrorism. |
| August 27 2014 | Formation of the Expeditionary Command and Control Air Force Wing 00.550 (EAC2P 00.550) at Évreux-Fauville Air Base, based on the former Groupement tactique des systèmes d'information et de communication (GTSICAéro). |
|
We are only showing the most recent entries for this topic. |
|
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Ministry of Armed Forces (France), French Army, List of active French Navy ships & French Air and Space Force, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.