Nice Air Base of the French Air Force

French Air Force

The French Air Force , literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933...

 is divided between two sites: one at the summit of Mont Agel

Mont Agel

Mont Agel is a mountain located on the border between France and Monaco. The culminant point of this mount, at above sea level, is situated on the French side, but the highest point of Monaco, a pathway named Chemin des Révoires, is situated on its slopes, at an altitude of 161 metres...

 near Nice

Nice

Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...

 in the Alpes-Maritimes département

Alpes-Maritimes

Alpes-Maritimes is a department in the extreme southeast corner of France.- History : was created by Octavian as a Roman military district in 14 BC, and became a full Roman province in the middle of the 1st century with its capital first at Cemenelum and subsequently at Embrun...

, and the other at Gardanne

Gardanne

Gardanne is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.-Geography:It is close to Aix-en-Provence and Marseille and lies on the rail link connecting the two cities.-History:Walls dating back to the first century AD have been found....

 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin

Roquebrune

Roquebrune may refer to the following communes in France:* Roquebrune, Gers, in the Gers département* Roquebrune, Gironde, in the Gironde département* Roquebrune, the former name for Roquebrune-Cap Martin, in the Alpes-Maritimes département...

. The Mont Agel base uses the facilities of the former Ouvrage Mont Agel

Ouvrage Mont Agel

Ouvrage Mont Agel is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also called the Little Maginot Line. The 1930s ouvrage was built in and around the earlier mountaintop Fortress of Mont Agel. The ouvrage forms a backup to the main curtain of Alpine Line forts, and was not...

 of the Alpine Line

Alpine Line

The Alpine Line or Little Maginot Line was the component of the Maginot Line that defended the southeastern portion of France...

. Its mission is the surveillance of aviation movements in southeastern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, operating as Centre de Détection et de Contrôle (CDC) 05.943, tactical call sign “Rhodia radar”. A similar facility is located at Drachenbronn Air Base

Drachenbronn Air Base

Drachenbronn Air Base of the French Air Force is located in the community of Drachenbronn-Birlenbach in the Bas-Rhin département. It houses the Centre de détection et de contrôle 05/901....

 in northeastern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The Gardanne base houses administrative functions and personnel housing in a former Chasseur Alpins barracks.

BA943 is responsible for the identification of all aircraft in its zone of responsibility, and for the coordination of military air traffic in the southeastern airspace of France. The facility has the capacity to interact with E-3F

E-3 Sentry

The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning and control system developed by Boeing as the prime contractor. Derived from the Boeing 707, it provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications, and is used by the United States Air Force , NATO, Royal Air Force , French Air Force...

 and E-2C

E-2 Hawkeye

The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, aircraft carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft Company for the United States Navy as a replacement for the...

airborne control aircraft. It is equipped with a 23cm two-dimensional search radar and a three-dimensional "PALMIER" radar on the site. Data is integrated by a VISU IV system.