Sud Aviation Vautour

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 Air Force. Vautour is the French word for vulture.

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.

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 for much of its AdA service life it was maligned as obsolete and underpowered. Although a moderately good aircraft when originally produced, it never received sufficiently powerful engines. 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.

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 actions through the Six Day War and War of Attrition. The Israeli Vautours took part in bombing, strafing and air-to-air engagements. In the Six Day War, over three days Vautours fought repeated combats with Iraqi Air Force fighters while raiding H-3 airfield in Western Iraq. On June 6, 1967, Captain Ben-Zion Zohar scored the type's only aerial victory when he downed an Iraqi Hawker Hunter, although two Vautours fell to the guns of Iraqi Hunters on the following day. In all 15 Vautours were lost. 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. 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 later Dassault Mirage IV. A fleet of 40 Vautour IIBs constituted the original air-based component of the French force de frappe, the Command des Forces Aeriennes Strategique (CFAS) of the French Air Force, established in 1955. They were considered marginal for this strategic bomber role and a requirement for a supersonic replacement was placed soon after, in 1956 (see Dassault Mirage IV).

In response to that same 1956 requirement that produced the Dassault Mirage IV, Sud Aviation proposed a stretched Super Vautour, with a combat radius of 1,700 miles at Mach 0.9.

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

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

 * Armee de l'Air received 112 aircraft.
 * 92me Escadre de Bombardement operated the Vautour IIB and between 1970 and 1978, some Vautour IINs.
 * Escadron de Bombardement 1/92 "Bourgogne"
 * Escadron de Bombardement 2/92 "Aquitaine"
 * Bombing Training Center operated Vautour IIB variant.
 * 30me Escadre de Chasse Tout Temps operated the Vautour IIN and used several Vautour IIAs for training purposes.
 * 1/30 "Loire"
 * 3/30 "Lorraine"
 * Israeli Air Force received 31 aircraft, operating the type between May 1958 and April 1972.
 * 110 Squadron based at Ramat David operated 19 Vautour IIA and four Vautour IIB aircraft.
 * 119 Squadron based at Tel-Nof operated eight Vautour IINs.
 * 110 Squadron based at Ramat David operated 19 Vautour IIA and four Vautour IIB aircraft.
 * 119 Squadron based at Tel-Nof operated eight Vautour IINs.