General André Lanata was confirmed by the North Atlantic Council as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation on 7 June 2018. He joined the French Air Force academy in 1981 and qualified as a fighter pilot in 1984. Throughout his career, he has  cquired an extensive experience both as a fighter pilot and as an operational commander.

Starting his career in a reconnaissance fighter squadron in Strasbourg Air Force Base, he became a flight commander in 1990 and chief of operations in  992. Responsible for reconnaissance programs at the Air Staff between 1993 and 1995, he then joined the Joint War College in Paris. He served as the commanding officer of the 2/3 Fighter Squadron “Champagne”, at Nancy Air Force Base. As a  taff officer, he has served in both plans and policy, at air and joint levels. Assigned in 2000 at the FAF headquarters in the Plans-Programs division, he joined the Joint Staff in 2002 as the Operational Coherence officer in charge of the preparation of joint forces and force protection.

Commander of the Air Force Base 188 in Djibouti between 2004 and 2006, he was at the same time the commander of all French Air Forces in Djibouti. He joined the Air Staff in 2006 as  deputy and then chief of Plans. Assigned at the Secretariat for the National Defence and Security, he worked as the deputy director for international and strategic affairs from 2008 to 2011. Deputy chief of Operations at the Joint Staff in 2011, he  particularly worked on the financing of French operations, bilateral or multilateral agreements such as the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF) concept, while directing at the same time the transformation of the organization. He was the chief  of Plans at the Joint Staff since 2013, more specifically in charge of all military programs, financial planning and arms control. He became Chief of Staff of the Air Force in September 2015, which strengthened his relationships with Air Chiefs through  the Alliance and Partner nations.

In this capacity, he implemented an ambitious transformation plan for the French Air Force. General André LANATA was awarded the rank of “Grand Officier” in the French Legion of Honour order and “Commandeur”  in the National Merit Order. He has flown 146 combat missions in six different theatres of operations and more than 3300 flying hours, mostly on Mirage F1CR and Mirage 2000D. He earned two war crosses –one with palm – and the Cross of Military  Valour. He and his wife Christine – whom he married in 1990 – have five children. He enjoys scuba diving and classical music.