Avord Air Base

Avord Air Base or BA 702 (Base Aérienne 702 Capitaine Georges Madon), named after Captain Georges Madon, is a base of the French Air Force located 2.8 km north northwest of Avord in central France.

Airbase 702 hosts about 2,500 personnel (French Air 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, 3503 x.

Units on the base

 * The French Boeing E-3F AWACS unit is located here in the 00.036 Airborne Warning Control Sqn 'Berry' Escadron de détection et contrôle aéroportés (EDCA). 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.

The base perimeter contains some maximum-security zones with:
 * A Special Ammuniations 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.
 * 2 hardened alert facilities. One is hosting 4 Mirage 2000 N planes, normally home based at Istres Air Base BA125 or at Luxeuil Air Base BA116. These planes are detached here on a rotating cyclus to comply to the French nuclear deterrence mission. The other facility hosts E-3F airplanes and KC135 tankers, normally home based at Istres, but detached to Avord AB to be used with some AWACS and strike missions.

Other support units:
 * 00.319 transport flight school.
 * 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.