DGA-EV

IATA code

ICAO code

Callsign

History

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CEV

Centev, TPN

1944 - current

DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement – General Directorate of Armament) belongs to the Ministry of Armed Forces and is responsible for defense procurement and technology. Having been established in 1961, DGA’s tasks are project management, development and purchase, assessment and testing of weapon systems for the French military. Also promotion of French defense industry export is a major DGA task. The working area of DGA is very diverse: it ranges from naval and aeronautical technology, missiles, information technology and telecommunication to weapon systems for nuclear, radiological, biological, and chemical warfare. Within DGA all these specialisms have their own General Directorate, which are located all over France.

DGA-EV (DGA – Essais en Vol) is the flight-testing branch of DGA. This military unit was created in 1944 for receiving and qualifying aeronautical systems and aircraft intended for the French military. At that time it was named Centre d’Essais en Vol (CEV), with ‘Centre’ dropped later to become simply EV. In the early years DGA-EV was located at Brétigny-sur-Orge, some 20 km south of Paris, on an airfield that during World War II had been in use by the German Luftwaffe. After the war the infrastructure of Brétigny Air Base was rapidly improved: the runway was extended to 3000m and 100m wide and included a section that could be inundated on demand for experiments in wet conditions. In those days it was the world’s longest runway. However, its proximity to Paris Orly airport proved unfit for aerial testing and in 2010 DGA-EV relocated from Brétigny Air base. The organization currently has two operational bases: BA120 in Cazaux and BA125 in Istres-Le Tubé, in the southwest and southeast of France, respectively.

Nowadays, DGA-EV not only serves the military, but provides expertise and technical resources to other DGA departments and all branches of the French armed forces. Also national and European civil aviation authorities and French manufacturers cooperate with DGA-EV in particular for export support. These services include amongst others expertise and flight testing of aircraft, weapons systems, equipment, propulsion systems, and armaments. Other services provided are acceptance of new or overhauled aircraft, air traffic control testing and acceptance, activities for the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and incident/accident assessment. DGA-EV performs training of flight crews from the Flight Test and Acceptance School (EPNER) and management of flight crews in the ‘Technical Corps’ and finally provides flight management at the annual Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport.

As a consequence of their assignment DGA-EV has been and sometimes is still operating a very wide variety of aircraft types. Just to name the most important ones: Aérospatiale Dauphin, Fennec and Puma, CASA 212, Dassault Mirage 2000 and Mirage 3B-1, Dassault Mystère, Dassault Ouragan, Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet, Douglas DC-7C AMOR, Lockheed Constellation, Nord 262, Pilatus PC-7, Robin HR.100/250, SNCASO Vautour IIN, Socata TBM-700, Sud Aviation Caravelle, Alouette II and III. Two Dassault Falcon 20 jets were recently withdrawn from their function as flying electronics laboratories. The most recent addition to the DFGA-EV fleet is an Airbus H-160B helicopter.

Fokkers with DGA-EV

Since the Mystère 20 was ageing and had become too small DGA-EV needed a flying testbed that was large enough to accommodate all testing and measuring equipment as well as the test systems operators. This replacement project was known as ABE-NG (avion banc d'essais de nouvelle generation, new-generation test bench aircraft). A French-made airliner would obviously have been first choice, but for practical reasons DGA-EV wanted an aircraft without a modern flight management (fly-by-wire) system. In view of the aircraft’s task, it would require very significant modifications, which might result in interferences with the flight management system and the aircraft’s in-flight behavior. If an Airbus A320-like aircraft would have been chosen, excessive compatibility testing and even full recertification would have been necessary and this was regarded impractical and too expensive. An older-generation Boeing 737 would have been possible as well, but the US authorities refused to follow the French proposal, reportedly due to the ‘questionable’ intended use. Finally, DGA-EV choose the Fokker 100 as their Mystère successor for flight experiments. The F100 met the requirements, it was compliant with the various aviation regulations, is considered a reliable and robust aircraft, equipped with modern engines and still has logistical support for the years to come. In 2013 a Fokker 100 was acquired that was phased out by the regional Air France subsidiary shortly before.

The modifications from airliner configuration to avionics testbed were undertaken by Sabena Technics at Dinard and took nearly four years before the F100 could be transferred to DGA-EV. The front part of the passengers cabin was transformed into a working area fitted with four operator consoles and standardized 19-inch racks for electronic equipment. Of course, there are more than plenty of cables connecting the racks and the electronic hardware. As the operator consoles are also modular built, they can easily be adapted as required for a given experiment. The crew has their own living area and in the aft cabin there are some 20 seats for accompanying staff.

Modifications are also visible externally: under the belly the F100 can carry a Thales Reco-NG pod, a long-range, high-resolution reconnaissance pod designed to enhance surveillance and intelligence imagery capabilities, as used on the Dassault Rafale fighter. This pod is primarily used to track missiles fired by the aircraft during tests. The wings are equipped with hard points for the MICA system for interception, combat and self-defense missiles. Finally and most conspicuous: the standard nose radome can be replaced with a Rafale nose, housing the RBE2 radar. By adding one or more of these options the F100 provides a range of configurations adjusted to the specific requirements of various testing missions within the wide spectrum of DGA-EV tasks. 

After commissioning with DGA-EV the F100 first participated in test campaigns for the MRTT (multi-role tanker transport) program for the Airbus A330 ‘Phénix’ of the French Air Force. In January 2019 the F100 made its first flight for testing the RBE2 radar of the Rafale. This radar system is still under development and the F100 provides the ideal platform for continuous aerial testing and validation. The F100 is flying about 150 test missions annually. In 2020 DGA-EV obtained a second F100 which was modified into essentially the same configuration as her sister ship and took to the air for the first time in 2024.

DGA-EV Fokker fleet

Registration c/n Mark Date in Date out Remarks
F-GPXL 11290 100 01-03-2013 05-01-2017 serial 290
F-ZAFT 11290 100 05-01-2017 re-registered to DGA-EV. Serial 290
F-WTBY 11400 100 10-2020 25-07-2024 serial 400
F-ZASN 11400 100 25-07-2024 re-registered to DGA-EV. Serial 400

DGA-CV pictures

F100 F-GPXL (11290) before modifications commenced (Nicolas H.; Dinard, 27 February 2013)

 

F-GPXL (11290) after completion of the external modifications, which are all visible here: Rafale radar nose, Reco-pod and underwing missiles. (Ruben Galindo; Paris-Le Bourget, 20 June 2014)

 

The cabin of F-GPXL (11290) showing an operator console, multiple electronic equipment racks, huge cable ducts under the windows and passenger seats in the aft cabin. (Bruno Etchenic in Portail Aviation; 15 June 2015)

 

Shortly after re-registration to F-ZAFT (11290) the DGA-EV F100 carried air-to-air missiles. (unknown photographer; Dinard, 18 January 2017)

 

The flight deck of F-ZAFT (11290) remained more or less identical with the original F100 airliner. (unknown photographer on Rawpixel, accessed 23-10-2025)

 

For commemorating the 80th anniversary of DGA-EV F-ZAFT (11290) was adorned with decals. (Timothée Savouré on Flickr; Villacoublay, 14 July 2024)

 

One of the first pictures of the second DGA-EV F100 F-ZASN (11400) carrying a reconnaissance pod only. (Christian Preinl; Bordeaux, 18 September 2024)

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