Béarn's air group and national independence

Béarn's air group covered reconnaissance, torpedo attack, dive bombing, and fighter protection. The Fairey Swordfish example explains why purpose-built dive bombers were a newer specialization even though earlier aircraft could already make steep attacks. The Levasseur PL.7's repeated withdrawals from and returns to carrier service exposed the reliability and support burden created by tiny production runs. France still wanted domestically produced aircraft and an independent naval air arm. The aircraft mix gave French doctrine broad functional coverage while imposing industrial costs on a small national programme.