France bought over one hundred AD-4N/NA Skyraiders for its air force. The Skyraiders served in Algeria for a short time and remained in service until the 1970s. Many found their way to African air forces, but this example with serial 126979 is preserved at Le Bourget.

The French AF bought 20 ex-USN AD-4s as well as 88 ex-USN AD-4Ns and five ex-USN AD-4NAs with the former three-seaters modified to single-seat aircraft with removal of the radar equipment and the two operator stations from the rear fuselage. The AD-4N/NAs were initially acquired in 1956 to replace aging Republic P-47 Thunderbolts in Algeria. The Skyraiders had only a short career in Algeria, but they nonetheless proved to be the most successful of all the ad hoc counter-insurgency aircraft deployed there. The Skyraider remained in limited French service until the 1970s.