Breguet Vultur

The Breguet Br.960 Vultur was a French prototype carrier-based attack aircraft that first flew on 3 August 1951. Only two examples were built, but the work done on them later proved useful in the development of the Alizé anti-submarine warfare aircraft.

The Vultur was a mixed-power design, combining an Armstrong Siddeley Mamba turboprop in the nose with a Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet in the tail. It was a low-wing aircraft, with the wing featuring a swept leading edge and a straight trailing edge, and folding at the middle. The aircraft had tricycle landing gear, with the main gear hinged in the wings just inside the wing fold and retracting towards the fuselage, and the nose gear retracting backwards.

The Vultur accommodated a pilot and copilot sitting side-by-side in a framed canopy. A typical payload was a single 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bomb and eight rockets. It was fitted with radar in a pod on the right wingtip, balanced by a fuel tank on the left wingtip. A large search radar could also be attached under the fuselage.

When the Aéronavale lost interest in a turboprop attack aircraft, but was keen to purchase a new anti-submarine warfare platform, Breguet modified the second prototype as a demonstrator. Now known as the Breguet Br.965 Épaulard ("Killer Whale"), this aircraft was the immediate fore-runner of the Alizé.

Notes and references

 * Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54. London: Jane's All The World's Aircraft Publishing Ltd, 1953.