French Air Force changes name as it looks to the stars

PARIS — The French Air Force is no more. On Sept. 11, it became the French Air and Space Force, completing a process initiated by President Emmanuel Macron in July 2019 when he announced the creation of a space command.

A new logo, revealed Friday, accompanies the new name. The logo features a thin, curved line that runs above the word “armée” and then behind the word “air.” It represents the surface of the world, above which soars the stylized sparrow-hawk, which has been the logo for the Air Force for a decade. The bird’s position has been very slightly modified to make it look more like a hunter. And the phrase “& espace” has been added.

The Air and Space Force says the reason for the discreet changes in the logo is to underline the continuity of the mission rather than a revolution in the mission.

The new logo for the French Air and Space Force.

“Today aviators must look higher, further, towards space, this new field of confrontation that is highly strategic and increasingly connected," Air and Space Force Chief of Staff Gen. Philippe Lavigne said to service members. "Your qualities enable you to master the skies. They will now lead you to conquering space.”

In a statement, the Air and Space Force said given “the vital implications for military operations,” France had defined space as being “a major stake” for its strategic independence, and so the Space Command — locally known as CDE, or Commandement de l’espace — was created on Sept. 3, 2019.

The command is led by Brig. Gen. Michel Friedling, who reports to Joint Chief of Staff Gen. François Lecointre where cooperation, capabilities and military operations are concerned, and to Lavigne when training and force preparation are involved.

Based in Toulouse, the Space Command should reach full operational capacity in 2025 with a staff of almost 500. There are currently 220 men and women working on developing capabilities to protect military satellites from being approached by satellites operated by foreign powers .

The command has already set up LISA, a laboratory dedicated to military innovation in space, and it is also preparing for AstérX, the first European military space exercise planned for November 2020.

Christina Mackenzie was the France correspondent for Defense News.

巴黎——法国空军已不复存在。9月11日，它正式更名为法国空军和太空军，完成了总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙于2019年7月宣布成立太空司令部时启动的进程。

周五发布的新标志与新名称相呼应。新标志由一条纤细的弧线构成，弧线位于“armée”（军队）一词上方，然后延伸至“air”（空军）一词后方。这条弧线象征着地球表面，其上方翱翔着一只风格化的雀鹰，这只雀鹰已作为美国空军的标志使用了十年。雀鹰的姿态略有调整，使其看起来更像一只猎鹰。此外，标志中还添加了“& espace”（太空）字样。

美国空军和太空部队表示，标志的细微变化是为了强调任务的延续性，而不是任务的革命性变革。

法国空军和航天部队的新标志。

“今天，飞行员必须看得更高、更远，看向太空——这个战略意义重大且联系日益紧密的新兴对抗领域，”空军和太空部队参谋长菲利普·拉维涅将军对官兵们说。“你们的素质使你们能够掌控天空。现在，这些素质将引领你们征服太空。”

美国空军和太空部队在一份声明中表示，鉴于太空对军事行动的“重要意义”，法国已将太空定义为其战略独立的“重大利益所在”，因此，太空司令部（当地称为 CDE，即 Commandement de l'espace）于 2019 年 9 月 3 日成立。

该指挥部由米歇尔·弗里德林准将领导，在合作、能力和军事行动方面向联合参谋长弗朗索瓦·勒孔特将军汇报，在训练和部队准备方面向拉维涅汇报。

位于图卢兹的太空司令部预计将于2025年全面投入运作，届时将拥有近500名工作人员。目前有220名男女工作人员致力于开发保护军用卫星免受外国卫星干扰的能力。

该指挥部已经建立了 LISA 实验室，致力于太空军事创新，并且正在为 AstérX 做准备，这是计划于 2020 年 11 月举行的首次欧洲军事太空演习。

克里斯蒂娜·麦肯齐是《防务新闻》的法国记者。