The Farman F.222 heavy bomber was one of the oldest designs in service with the Armée de l'Air and yet ironically, was still the only 4-engined bomber in the Allies' arsenal in 1940. Its layout was quite unusual and ungainly, featuring a very high wing, think-section design, and with radial engines set up in back-to-back pairs meaning each engine nacelle had a "pusher" and "puller" propeller. Nevertheless, its performance was quite decent and enjoyed some success in both tactical and strategic attacks in 1940 although in the event only a small number were actually used (initially for leaflet raids over Germany during the so-called 'Phoney War') with its claim to fame being that it was the only French aircraft which managed to bomb Berlin on the night of 7/8 June 1940. After the French surrender, some F.222s were still found in service as transports with Air France as late as 1944.

The F.220 prototype first flew as far back as 1930 and was followed by the F.221 five years later. These differed from the prototype by having a retractable undercarriage and optimized for night bombing although by the time of the war were used mostly as transports. The principal wartime model was the F.222 which included a redesigned nose and more powerful engines, these were still in use by the Free French as late as 1944 for transport duties. The F.223 (also known as the NC.223) was produced by SNCA du Centre, had a new metal wing, and was the aircraft which bombed Berlin. Lastly, the F.224 was the only dedicated transport of the series.