Breguet Bre.4

"This article is about an aircraft of World War I. For the pre-war design of the same designation, see Breguet Type IV."

Infobox Aircraft
name=Bre.4


caption=
type=Bomber
manufacturer=Breguet, Michelin
designer=
first flight= 1914
introduced= 1914
retired=
status=
primary user= French Army
more users= Royal Naval Air Service
produced=
number built=ca. 100
variants with their own articles=

The Breguet Bre.4, also known variously as the Type IV, BUM, and BLC was a French biplane bomber aircraft of World War I.

Design and development

It was developed during 1914 when French military planners began to express a preference for pusher- over tractor-configured aircraft, leading Breguet to cease further development of its original Breguet Type IV design and pursue military contracts with an aircraft of the preferred layout. The Type IV was a two-bay, equal-span, unstaggered biplane that seated the pilot and observer in tandem open cockpits in a nacelle that also carried the pusher engine at its rear, and the tricycle undercarriage. As the prototype neared completion, the Breguet factory at Douai was threatened by the advancing German Army, and the machine and its builders were evacuated to Villacoublay where construction and testing were completed. At this point, André and Edouard Michelin approached the French government with an offer to sponsor the construction of 100 bombers for the Army, and were awarded a licence to the Breguet design. This was put into production as the BUM (B for pusher-driven, U for Canton-Unné-powered, M for Michelin), and later revised to the BLM as the definitive Renault-powered version.

Operational history

Soon after the BUM had entered service, the French Army requested that an escort fighter version be developed to protect the bombers from interception. Breguet responded with a lightened design armed with a 37 mm Hotchkiss cannon intended to pick off enemy fighters before they closed to within range of their machine guns. This entered production as the BUC (C for "chasse", or pursuit) in its original Canton-Unné powered version and BLC in its Renault version. Few of these escort fighters were built, as their performance and utility were discovered to be lacking, and the doctrine of the cannon-armed escort fighter was soon abandoned in favour of countering fighters with other similar fighters. A number of BUCs were also built for Britain's RNAS using British engines.

Variants

;Type IV (BU3)Breguet prototype.

;BUM (BrM2B.2)Michelin-built, Canton-Unné-powered bomber version.

;BLM (BrM4B.2)Michelin-built, Renault-powered bomber version.

;BUCMichelin-built, Canton-Unné-powered escort fighter version.

;BLCMichelin-built, Renault-powered escort fighter version.

;;"Breguet de Chasse":Version of BLC for RNAS, powered by Sunbeam Mohawk or Rolls-Royce Falcon engine.

Operators

;FRA

*French Army

;UK

*Royal Naval Air Service

**No. 5 Wing RNAS

pecifications (BUC)

aerospecs
met or eng?= met

crew=two, pilot and gunner
capacity=
length m=9.50
length ft=31
length in=2
span m=16.40
span ft=53
span in=10
swept m=
swept ft=
swept in=
rot number=
rot dia m=
rot dia ft=
rot dia in=
dia m=
dia ft=
dia in=
width m=
width ft=
width in=
height m=3.70
height ft=12
height in=2
wing area sqm=54.0
wing area sqft=581
swept area sqm=
swept area sqft=
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
volume m3=
volume ft3=
aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=1,160
empty weight lb=2,557
gross weight kg=1,535
gross weight lb=3,384
lift kg=
lift lb=

eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Salmson licence-built Canton-Unné 2M7 radial
eng1 kw= 149
eng1 hp= 200
eng1 kn=
eng1 lbf=
eng1 kn-ab=
eng1 lbf-ab=
eng2 number=
eng2 type=
eng2 kw=
eng2 hp=
eng2 kn=
eng2 lbf=
eng2 kn-ab=
eng2 lbf-ab=

max speed kmh=138
max speed mph=86
max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
range km=
range miles=
endurance h= 3
endurance min=
ceiling m=
ceiling ft=
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=
climb rate ftmin=
sink rate ms=
sink rate ftmin=

armament1=1 × trainable 37 mm Hotchkiss cannon in front cockpit
armament2=300 kg (660 lb) of bombs
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6=

References

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External links

ee also

aircontent

related=

similar aircraft=

sequence=
* 4 - 5 - 6 - 11 →

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see also=