[Pursuivant]

The announcement of the English Channel map and discussions on this thread got me wondering about what a decent order of battle would look like for the Armee de l'Air in May 1940.

Note that this post is not a request, since it would take a massive amount of effort to even produce a stripped-down selection of French aircraft!

Anyhow, here's my list of which French aircraft were used in significant numbers during the Battle of France. Note that it doesn't take into account the fact that some types were obsolete and were quickly withdrawn from the combat zone.

Starred entries represent particularly important aircraft. Numbers in parentheses represent number of aircraft in service at the start of the campaign - more or less.

Attack: Breguet Bre.693 AB.2 (~200)* (Also used by Vichy France and Italy)

Bomber, Medium: Amiot 354 (86), Amiot 143 (138 ), Bloch MB.200 (200) (also used by Vichy France, Bulgaria, Luftwaffe), Bloch MB.210Bn (257), Liore et Olivier LeO 451* (~373)(also used by Italy, Luftwaffe), Martin 167 (<200) (also used by South Africa, UK, Vichy France).

Bomber, Light/Recon: ANF Les Mureaux 115 R2B2 (119), Bloch MB.131RB4 (121), Bloch MB.174A.3 (56), Breguet Bre.270, Douglas DB-7 B-3 (64), Potez 63.11* (730+) (also used by Greece, Italy, Romania, Vichy France, Yugoslavia, Luftwaffe)

Dive Bomber: Latecoere Late 298D (<121)*, Liore Nieuport LN.411 (45), Vought V-156 (40)

Fighter: Bloch MB.152 (482) (also used by Greece, Romania, Vichy France, Luftwaffe trainer), Caudron C.714 (~90) (also used by Finland, Free Polish), Curtiss H75-C1 (316), Dewoitine D.520 C1 (~900) (also used by Bulgaria, Italy, Vichy France, Luftwaffe), Koolhoven F.K.58A (11), Morane-Saulnier MS.406* (~1,000) (also used by Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Luftwaffe)

Fighter, Heavy: Potez 630 (85) (also used by Vichy France), Potez 631.01* (206) (also used by Greece, Vichy France, Luftwaffe), Potez 633 (63)

Liaison: Caudron C.270 Luciole (>700)*, Caudron C.635M Simoun (489), Hanriot H.182 (346)

Patrol: Liore 130 M (125)

Trainer: Hanriot H.436 (50), Hanriot H.230 (35) (also used by Finland), Mauboussin M.123 (65), Morane-Saulnier MS.230 (~1,000)(also used by many other nations), Morane-Saulnier MS.315 (350), Nardi FN.305A, Nieuport-Delage NiD 629 (50), North American NA-57 (also used by Vichy France, Luftwaffe), Romano R-82 (177)

Transport: Dewoitine D.338 (30) (also used by Lufthansa),

Utility: Caudron C.445M Goeland (404) (also used by Belgium, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Luftwaffe)

In my arrogant opinion, there's a good case to be made for adding any of the following aircraft to the game, either because of numbers of aircraft involved, subsequent use in other theaters of war, or both:

Breguet Bre.693 AB.2, Caudron C.270 Luciole, Latecoere Late 298D, Liore et Olivier LeO 451, Morane-Saulnier MS.406 (flyable), Potez 631.01, Potez 63.11.

Arguably:

Douglas DB-7 B-3 (could converted to Havoc Mk. I or Mk. II without too much trouble), Dewoitine D.520, Liore Nieuport LN.411 (dive-bomber float plane, major plane of Aeronavale during the campaign, and very effective), Martin 167 (AKA Martin Maryland), Vought V-156 (AKA Vought Vindicator - could be more or less easily modified to USN standard).