Sud Aviation Vautour

Infobox Aircraft
name= Vautour
type= Fighter bomber
manufacturer= Sud Aviation


caption= A Vautour IIN
designer=
first flight= 16 October avyear|1952
introduced= avyear|1958
retired= avyear|1979
status=
primary user= French Air Force
more users= Israeli Air Force
produced= 149
number built=
unit cost=
developed from =
variants with their own articles =

The Sud Aviation (SNCASO) S.O. 4050 Vautour II was a French bomber, interceptor, and attack aircraft used by the "Armée de l'Air" (AdA). Later, 28 of these aircraft were used by the Israeli "Heyl Ha'Avir (Air Force)". "Vautour" is the French word for the vulture bird of prey.

Development

In June 1951 the French "Armée de l'Air" issued a requirement for a jet aircraft capable of acting as a bomber, a low-level attack aircraft, or an all-weather interceptor. SNCASO adapted its existing S.O. 4000 for this purpose, the first prototype S.O. 4050 making its initial flight on 16 October 1952. [Gunston 1981, p.215.]

Subsequently named Vautour II, the aircraft was built in three versions. It entered service with the AdA in 1958, with the last French aircraft leaving frontline service in 1979. A few soldiered on in various duties into the early 1980s. The Vautour saw no combat in French service, and it was maligned as obsolescent and underpowered. Although a decent aircraft in its day, it never had engines sufficient to its weight. As an interceptor it was outclassed by the Dassault Mirage III, and as a bomber or attack aircraft its lack of an advanced navigation/attack system was a crippling limitation in the bomber role.

The only export customer for the Vautour was Israel, which purchased 28 for the IDF/AF. The Israeli Vautours also entered service in 1958. They saw combat against Egypt beginning the following year and in a series of skirmishes through the Six Day War and War of Attrition. 17 Vautours were lost in all, although two were later returned to service. They were retired in 1971 in favor of the A-4 Skyhawk, and the last aircraft left service in March 1972, serving as decoys in the Sinai. The Israelis were pleased with the Vautour's range and versatility, and it was well regarded in Israeli service.

Design

The Vautour was a shoulder-wing monoplane with a 35° swept wing and a "flying" tail. Two SNECMA Atar 101 turbojet engines were carried in pods in the wings. It had bicycle-type landing gear, with the main units in the fore and aft fuselage and smaller stabilizing gear in the engine pods. The central fuselage carried a large 5.0 meter (16 ft 5 in) weapons bay and substantial internal fuel tankage.

The IIB bomber lacked radar or any other modern nav/attack systems, weapons being aimed by the bombardier in a glass nose section with a World War II-vintage Norden bombsight. Both the IIB and IIA were limited to clear-weather day use. The IIN interceptor had some capacity for night and adverse weather thanks to its radar. In Israeli service, where the weather was generally favorable and daylight missions commonplace, the Vautour's lack of advanced targeting and navigation equipment was not a crippling limitation, but in Europe it was considered a major disadvantage. As a result, the French AdA did not use the single-seat IIA in a frontline capacity, and most IIB bombers were converted to IIBR standard for photo recce work. Some reports suggest French IIB could carry a single AN-11 or AN-22 nuclear weapon in its internal weapons bay, although the primary carrier of those weapons was the Dassault Mirage IV.

Variants

* S.O. 4050-01 : Two-seat all-weather fighter prototype, powered by two 23.5-kN (5,291-lb)Atar 101B turbojet engines. First flew on 16 October 1952. One built.
* S.O. 4050-02 : Single-seat ground-attack prototype, powered by two 27.6-kN (6,217-lb) Atar 101D turbojet engines. First flew on 16 December 1953. One built.
* S.O. 4050-03 : Two-seat bomber prototype, powered by two Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire turbojet engines. First flew on 5 December 1954. One built.

The Vautour was produced in three principal variants, which had 90% commonality between them:
* IIA: Single-seat, long-range attack aircraft, armed with cannon and bombs (carried internally or on four underwing pylons)
* IIN: Two-seat, all-weather interceptor with DRAC-25AI or DRAC-32AI radar in nose, pilot and co-pilot in tandem seats, armed with cannon, air-to-air missiles, and (theoretically) unguided rockets. The designation was later changed to II-1N.
* IIB: Two-seat bomber with glazed nose position for bombardier/observer replacing cannon pack, carrying bombs internally and on underwing pylons.

Some aircraft were converted to various specialized roles, principally reconnaissance (IIBR and IIBN), ECM, and eventually target tug (IIB-TT).

Production

Total production was 149 aircraft, divided as follows:
* Prototypes: 3
* Pre-production: 6
* IIA: 30 (13 for France, 17 for Israel)
* IIB: 40 (36 for France, 4 for Israel)
* IIN: 70 (63 for France, 7 for Israel)

Operators

;FRA
* Armee de l'Air (112)
* Israeli Air Force (28)

pecifications (Vautour IIA)

Aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=jet
crew=One
length main=15.57 m
length alt=51 ft 1 in
span main=15.10 m
span alt=49 ft 6.5 in
height main=4.94 m
height alt=16 ft 2.5 in
area main=45 m²
area alt=484 ft²
empty weight main=10,000 kg
empty weight alt=22,000 lb
loaded weight main=17,500 kg
loaded weight alt=38,600 lb
max takeoff weight main=21,000 kg
max takeoff weight alt=46,300 lb
more general=
engine (jet)=SNECMA Atar 101E-3
type of jet=turbojets
number of jets=2
thrust main=34.3 kN
thrust alt=7,710 lbf)
max speed main=Mach 0.9, 1,100 km/h
max speed alt=687 mph
max speed more=at sea level
range main=5,400 km
range alt=3,375 mi
ceiling main=15,200 m
ceiling alt=50,000 ft
climb rate main=60 m/s
climb rate alt=11,820 ft/min
loading main=403 kg/m²
loading alt=82.6 lb/ft²
thrust/weight=0.4
more performance=
armament=
* 4x 30mm DEFA cannons with 100 rounds per gun
* Internal weapons bay for maximum of 2,725 kg (6,000 lb) of bombs (typically six 450 kg (1,000 lb) bombs), pack of 116x 68 mm (2.7 in) rockets, camera pack, or two 1,500 liter (400 U.S. gal) fuel tanks
* Four underwing pylons each rated at 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) (inboard) and 500 kg (1,100 lb) (outboard) for total external load of 4,000 kg (8,800 lb); maximum practical weapons load (internal and external) 4,400 kg (9,700 lb) of bombs, rockets, missiles, or napalm tanks

ee also

aircontent
related=
similar aircraft=
* Avro-Canada CF-100
* Blackburn Buccaneer
* English Electric Canberra
* Ilyushin Il-28/Hong H-5
* F-105 Thunderchief
* Gloster Javelin
* Yakovlev Yak-25
* Yakovlev Yak-28
sequence=
* S.O. 4000 - S.O. 4050

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Gunston, Bill. "Fighters of the Fifties". Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1981. ISBN 0-85059-463-4.

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/1467/ The Vautour Pages]