Avord Air Base

Avord Air Base (ICAO: LFOA) or BA 702 (French: Base Aérienne 702 Capitaine Georges Madon), named after Captain Georges Madon, is a base of the French Air and Space Force (Armée de l'air et de l'espace) located 2.8 km (1.7 mi) north northwest^[1] of Avord in central France.

Avord Air Base (BA 702) Base Aérienne 702 Capitaine Georges Madon
E-3 Sentry taking off from Avord Air Base
IATA: none ICAO: LFOA
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	Government of France
Operator	Armée de l'air et de l'espace
Location	Avord, France
Elevation AMSL	580 ft / 177 m
Coordinates	47°03′12″N 002°37′57″E
Map
LFOA Location of airport in France
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 06/24 3,503 11,493 Asphalt
Source: Aerodrome chart at Direction de la Circulation Aerienne Militaire (DIRCAM)[1]

Airbase 702 hosts about 2,500 personnel (French Air and Space Force military and some civilian). Because of its strategic location in the middle of France it is extremely suitable as a multi purpose base. It has a single runway 06/24, 3,503 m × 45 m (11,493 ft × 148 ft).^{[citation needed]}

Units on the base

• Escadron de détection et de contrôle aéroportés 36 Berry which flies the Boeing E-3F^[2]
  • Its role is to carry out airborne surveillance, and command, control and communications (C3) functions for both tactical and air defense forces. The French designation is E-3 SDA (Systeme de Detection Aeroporté). Additional units attached: mission support flight, training flight, technical flight support and logistic flight.^{[citation needed]}
• École de L'Aviation de Transport 319 Capitaine Jean Dartiques flying the Embraer EMB 121 Xingu^[2]
• Escadron D'Instruction en Vol Fourchambault^[2]

The base perimeter contains some maximum-security zones with:^{[citation needed]}

• A Special Ammunitions Storage (SAS) or dépôt atelier munitions spécialisées (DAMS). Storage of appx. 60 of FAF's stockpile of Air-Sol Moyenne Portée ASMP nuclear midrange air ground missiles.
• Two hardened alert facilities. One is hosting for Dassault Mirage 2000N combat aircraft, normally home based at Istres Air Base (BA 125) or at Luxeuil - Saint-Sauveur Air Base (BA 116). These planes are detached here on a rotating cycles to comply to the French nuclear deterrence mission. The other facility hosts E-3F airplanes and KC-135 tankers, normally home based at Istres, but detached to Avord AB to be used with some AWACS and strike missions.

Other support units: ^{[citation needed]}

• technical maintenance depot.
• entrepôt de munition de l'armée de l'air Savigny-en-Septaine, a conventional ammo storage unit.
• 1H.702 firefighting/rescue and nuclear decontamination unit.
• 12.802 strategic telecom unit.
• 02.950 air defense sqn (escadron de défense sol-air) Sancerre equipped with the Crotale and MBDA Mistral short range air defense systems.
• 1G.702 security squadron (escadron de protection) Fusiliers Commandos de l'Air responsible for security and base protection.