Major General Philippe Adam

Bio

Born on May 9, 1967 in Paris, married, Major General Philippe Adam can rely on a comprehensive technical and operationnal experience. After being graduated engineer from the Ecole Polytechnique, he joined the French Air Force on August 31, 1988, and began his fighter pilot training. Awarded with his fighter pilot wings in 1990, he held various responsibilities in operational units on Mirage 2000C within the 1/12 "Cambrésis" fighter squadron, then as Flight Commander in the 2/12 “Picardie” fighter squadron. From 1993 to 1995, he was engaged in several operations in the Balkans and the Middle East.

Qualified as a test pilot in 1996, he was assigned to the French Flight Test Center in Istres, where he became Chief Test Pilot in 1999. After graduating from the French Joint War College in 2001, he came back to his previous responsabilities at the Flight Test Center in Istres. In 2003, he was assigned as operational advisor at the United Arab Emirates Flight Test Center.

Back in France in 2006, he served two years in the Capability Office of the Air Force Staff in Paris, in charge of the “Deterrence & Combat” division. From 2008 to 2010, he took command of the Istres Air Base, covering a major milestone with the commissioning of the ASMP-A nuclear weapon system.

After attending the National War College in Washington, D.C. in 2010-2011, he joined the NATO International Military Staff in Brussels as Deputy Chief of the “Air and Ballistic Missile Defense” Branch. In 2013, he was appointed deputy director of the Euro-Atlantic branch at the French Delegation for Strategic Affairs, in charge of supporting the defense minister for bilateral and multilateral meetings.

From 2015 to 2017, he was assigned to the Air Defense and Air Operations Command at Lyon Mont-Verdun Air Base 942, as commander of the National Air Operation Center. Promoted to Brigadier General in 2017, he then took command of the Air Operation Brigade, still at BA942. His responsibilities included command of the Barkhane Operation Joint Force Air Component. Then, on summer 2018, he was appointed deputy Joint Force Commander of the Barkhane Operation, in N'Djamena, Chad.

In 2019, he took command of the French Air Warfare Center in Mont-de-Marsan. He supervised the entry into service of the French armed "Reaper" as well as of the F3R standard of the “Rafale”. In 2020, he was appointed chief of the "Future Capabilities" division of the Joint Staff, in charge of planning the procurement of future equipment on behalf of the Joint Chief of Staff.

He took command of the French Space Command on July 1st, 2022.