On 20 January 1945, in a France still scarred by the fighting of the Second World War, General de Gaulle, head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, signed the decree creating the Air Defence. This act laid the foundation stone for rebuilding sovereignty in the air, giving it a joint and interministerial dimension, under the authority of the Prime Minister. However, the means to implement it are still lacking.
A multi-pronged effort will be undertaken to conquer the skies. Building a territorial detection network, via mobile and then fixed radar and radio capabilities, linked to each other and to the NATO network. Taking control of the skies, first with British fighter aircraft such as the Vautour, then French Mirage and American AWACS (airborne radar station systems), and finally the Rafale. Building sophisticated command centres capable of preventing and managing any threat in the air. Finally, to have a strong doctrine that is both sovereign and supported by the capabilities of neighbouring countries and NATO.
Alongside the arrival of the nuclear deterrence With which it will coordinate its effects, air defence will ensure the protection and sovereignty of French airspace against military threats from 1945 to 2001. Perceived as a sanctuary, the skies over France were nonetheless the object of numerous "tests" of USSR vectors, intercepted by French fighters on our borders.
WHEN SOVIET PLANES SPIED ON LONG ISLAND
For example, in the 1980s, Soviet TU-95 Bear aircraft took off from Murmansk in north-west Russia, circled the UK and Ireland to the north and positioned themselves off Île-Longue (Finistère), to listen to and see this base of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SNLE). To compensate for the lack of detection by French radars, limited to 50 nautical miles from land borders, air defence mobilised Mirage F-1Cs from the 12th and 30th divisions.e fighter squadrons to intercept and photograph Soviet aircraft. Cooperation with the British ally was essential: it sent out advance warning of overflights and mobilised its tanker aircraft to supply the French aircraft in flight.
The attacks of 11 September 2001 changed the doctrine of air defence in the face of the terrorist threat. Civilian aircraft, previously of relative interest, became potential weapons of mass destruction. Major events (such as the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024) are now protected in the air by special air security systems. Air defence must be reactive and adapted to the level of terrorist threat, hidden within the 15,000 daily overflights of national airspace.
Flexible and agile, air defence is adjusting to current challenges, in particular the return of state conflict to Europe's doorstep. The challenge of new uses extends the historical interministerial responsibilities from the 1945 decree to drones and new means of access to airspace, such as paragliders or microlights, which can be used as weapons (Hamas paramotors crossing the border between Gaza and Israel on 7 October 2023, Ukrainian drones in the "Spider's web" operation on 1 October, etc.).er June 2025...). In addition to these uses, civil air traffic is constantly expanding. The challenge of acceleration on all fronts (communications, airborne vectors, space, etc.) requires a permanent and evolving response.
SOON TO BE AIDED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND SWARMS OF DRONES?
Air defence will continue to evolve and adapt. Tomorrow it could be a kind of cloud linked to artificial intelligence to give orders to SCAFs (future air combat systems) supported by swarms of drones. But it could also evolve in a completely different way. As the aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once said, "when it comes to the future, it's not a question of predicting it, but of making it possible".
Commander of Air Defence and Air Operations (CDAOA), Air Force Lieutenant General Laurent Rataud highlights the progress made since the CDAOA was set up:
"For more than 80 years, air defence has ensured French sovereignty in the air. The embodiment of a highly political vision implemented by a strategy and resources that are constantly being rethought, it adapts to the challenges and issues without altering the objective of protecting the French skies, unchanged since 1945. This is a fascinating history of air defence, carried out by thousands of airmen and airwomen devoted to this mission. Long live air defence!
- The CDAOA invites you to attend the conference on 80 years of air defence, to be held in the auditorium of the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace at the Paris Air Show on 18 June from 3pm to 4.30pm. Information and registration: Commandant Guillaume Denis guillaume1.denis@intradef.gouv.fr
- You can also read an interview with Air Force General Laurent Rataud : "Air defence is consubstantial with the ambition of sovereignty".
