Fiction:France/French Starfleet

The French Starfleet, officially the Armade française (English: French Armada), is the stellar navy of France.

Doctrine
Since its founding, the French Stafleet has maintained a very strong force tooled for conventional realspace warfare. French ships, while not the most powerful or most advanced, play to France's greatest strength: strike craft. Ships of the line like the Céleste-class and Terra-class and smaller frigates like the Cassiel-class act primarily in support of France's line carrier, the Orleans-class.
 * Conventional warfare

In terms of strike craft, the French the iconic Mirage Roi omnirole fighter in offensive and defensive roles alongside the more specialized Super Mirage B voltigeur bomber which, when used in the right circumstances, has been known to devastate fleets. Elite craft like the Mirage Roi Dominant and the more recent Mirage Revenant are a rarer sight, but when they are seen, it is usually in the instants before a very large detonation.

The Starfleet is also in charge of keeping and enforcing French borders. To that end, they have set up border stations stocked with Mirage I's, an affordable superluminal interceptor developed jointly by France and POTATO. Until the Dominatus War, France had only a passing interest in hyperspatial weaponry--armaments capable of engaging targets in hyperspace. The Harpon series, first developed in 2759, was widely considered to be unwieldy, even in the best of circumstances. The missiles were prone to swerving off course at the slightest provocation due to the inherent difficulty in tracking a target through hyperspace. They were rarely used in live combat, and when they were they were not expected to substantially damage the enemy.
 * Hyperspatial warfare

However, the Domiantus War changed the Starfleet's perception of hyperspatial weapons. The Tyranny used them to great effect against the French, who had nothing effective to respond with. This spurred research into hyperspatial weaponry and the development of new starships, most of which are still in the prototype stage.

Infantry
Types of infantry teams
 * Flag of France.png RIMa - RIMa, short for régiment d'infanterie marine (English: Regiment of marine infantry) are ship-board infantry specializing in boarding operations and starship security. They deploy in teams of five, composed of three fusiliers, one grenadier, and one sapper.
 * Flag of France.png Parachutistes de Marine - Marine parachutists are the airborne special forces of the French Starfleet, capable of fighting offensively or defensively in boarding operations and seizing objectives on the ground. Most French starships have at least one detachment of these, handpicked from the ranks of the RIMa. A team is typically composed of five infantrymen, of which three fusiliers, one grenadier, and one sapper.
 * Flag of France.png Commandos Marine

Types of personnel
 * Flag of France.png Fusilier - A "standard" soldier filling the role of the rifleman, French fusiliers march into battle wearing hermetically sealed plasma, bullet, and shrapnel resistant armor which is standard among French infantry. Fusiliers carry with them the FASIM X8-95, an assault rifle originally of Drodoian design.
 * Flag of France.png Grenadier - The heavy-hitters of a French infantry team, Grenadiers carry the massive, armor-piercing ML-55 battle rifle, designed to punch through the heaviest infantry armor. Depending on the situation, they might also carry with them some form of light anti-tank weapon (LAW), or a portable anti-tank guided missile launcher. Grenadiers compose the team's anti-armor capability.
 * Flag of France.png Sappeur - A sapper's main role in the team is to breach doors during a boarding action, though they have evolved to play a substantial combat role. Their primary weapon is a FASIM X8-95 with a grenade launcher attached to the bottom, along with different types of explosives depending on the situation. Sappers in special forces teams are often taught how to slice into computer terminals, and as such are an essential part of the team.