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JFAC FRA

The French Air Defense and Air Operations Command (CDAOA) is a key operational pillar of the French Air and Space Force, established in 1945 to safeguard national sovereignty. With a dedicated team of 3,500 personnel, it manages the permanent surveillance of national airspace while planning and executing complex air operations across both domestic and international theaters. Its responsibilities span from "sky police" interception and autonomous air intelligence to critical public service missions like disaster relief and search and rescue. By integrating advanced radar networks and specialized brigades, the CDAOA ensures high operational readiness and command excellence for joint and allied security commitments worldwide.

As of July 1, 2026, the CDAOA serves as a Air component of the ARF.

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History

Established in 1945, the Air Defense and Air Operations Command (CDAOA) is one of the five commands of the French Air and Space Force. As an operational command, it is responsible for the permanent surveillance of the national airspace, under the authority of the Prime Minister, as well as the planning and conduct of air operations, under the authority of the Army Chief of Staff (CEMA).

Mission

• Homeland defense

In permanent link with the Control Centers (CDC) of the French Air and Space Force, the Air Defence Operations Planning and Control Center ensures the permanent protection of the national airspace and guarantees its sovereignty, under the responsibility of the Prime Minister.

Better known as the "sky police", this air defense mission is based on the surveillance of national airspace and implies the intervention of aerial means, whether to intercept aircrafts behaving abnormally (loss of radio contact, failure to follow a flight plan, penetration of a no-fly zone, etc.), to provide in-flight assistance to an aircraft in distress or to organize rescue operations.

• Conventional air operations

In addition to territorial air defense, the Joint Force Air Component (FJAC) orders, coordinates and conducts air operations that take place on national territory and in foreign theaters, on the decision of the Army Chief of Staff (CEMA). The JFAC is mobilized for operations in the Sahel or on NATO's eastern flank. The Air Command and Control Wing is the French Air and Space Force's only force pool specifically dedicated to supporting the command and control of air operations. It ensures that the French Air and Space Force fulfills its capability contract and is autonomous when it enters the theater of operations.

• Air Intelligence

Present at the tactical level in combat units, in ground and airborne systems within the armed forces, the Air Intelligence (AI) personnel contribute to the autonomous assessment of the situation in the intel field. The French Air and Space Force has its own sensors to supply the joint AI community. The information collected by the sensors is analyzed, correlated and merged within the Air Intelligence Center.

• Operational readiness

Since 2008, the NATO Air Operations Centre of Excellence provides the necessary expertise in air operations at all times and in all places. It ensures the high level of personnel readiness for command and control of air operations, especially in a joint and combined environment. In parallel, the Air Defense and Air Operations Command is responsible for the planning and programming of operational readiness activities, taking into account training needs, joint and allied cooperation objectives, the availability of means and budgetary contingencies.

• Public service missions

The CDAOA carries out various public service missions like support for forest fire fighting operations, disaster relief, opening of military runways for the transport of organs for the biomedical agency, aerial protection of the Guiana Space Center, deployment of airmen. The Air Defense and Air Operations Command also manages search and rescue operations through the Air Rescue Coordination Center (ARCC), a 24/7 national center in charge of the direction and interdepartmental coordination of rescue operations for civil and military aircraft in distress or crashed.

Role

The French Air and Space Force acts as a strategic instrument for national sovereignty, tasked with maintaining permanent surveillance and control of airspace, conducting autonomous air operations in global theaters, providing critical intelligence assessments, and ensuring the high-level readiness of command and control structures to meet both domestic security needs and international alliance commitments..

Organization

To carry out all its missions, the FADAOC has around 3500 military personnel organized around a headquarters, four brigades, several units, and a network of fifteen radars covering the territory :

• Brigade aérienne des opérations (BAO)
• Brigade aérienne connaissance-anticipation (BACA)
• Brigade aérienne de la posture permanente de la sûreté aérienne (BAPPS)
• Brigade aérienne du contrôle de l'Espace (BACE)