The Bloch MB.130 and its derivatives were a series of French

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s developed during the 1930s. They saw some limited action at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

but were obsolete by that time and suffered badly against the ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

''. After the fall of France, a few were pressed into ''Luftwaffe'' service.

Design and development

The MB.130 was developed in response to the August 1933 French Aviation Ministry request for a reconnaissance and

tactical bomber Tactical bombing is aerial bombing aimed at targets of immediate military value, such as combatants, military installations, or military equipment. This is in contrast to strategic bombing, or attacking enemy cities and factories to cripple fut ...

. It was an all-metal, twin-engine, low-wing monoplane with retractable

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

, and armed with three flexible

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

s, one each in the nose, dorsal

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

, and ventral gondola. It first flew on 29 June 1934, and despite very ordinary performance, soon entered production, 40 machines being ordered in October 1935. An improved version, the MB.131 was first flown on 16 August 1936, but still needed more work to overcome its deficiencies. The radically revised second

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

which flew on 5 May 1937 eventually formed the basis for series production, with aircraft being manufactured by

SNCASO SNCASO (abbreviated from ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Ouest'', or commonly, ''Sud-Ouest'') was a French aircraft manufacturer. Created during 1936 as one of seven nationalised aeronautical manufacturing companies, ...

, the nationalised company that had absorbed Bloch and Blériot. Total production (including prototypes) was 143.

MB.135

A four-engined derivative of the MB.134, was developed powered by four Gnome-Rhône 14M 14 cylinder radial engines, with an essentially similar airframe. The sole example flew for the first time on 12 January 1939.

Operational history

Entering service in June 1938, the MB.131 went on to equip seven reconnaissance ''Groupes'', six in metropolitan France and one in North Africa. Upon the outbreak of the war, the metropolitan ''Groupes'' suffered heavy losses in attempts at daylight reconnaissance of Germany's western borders. They were subsequently restricted to flying night missions, though they still suffered heavy losses even then. By May 1940, all metropolitan units had been converted to Potez 63.11 aircraft, with only the African groupe retaining them for front-line duty. After the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

, the planes left in

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

possession were relegated to target towing duty. 21 planes were reported captured by the ''Luftwaffe'' in inoperable condition, but photographic evidence suggests at least a few flew for the Nazis.

Variants

;MB.130.01 :Original prototype, 2x Gnome-Rhône 14Kdrs engines. ;MB.131.01 :First prototype, 2x Gnome-Rhône 14N-10. ;MB.131.02 :Second prototype with revised wings, tail, and

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

;MB.131R4 :Initial versions with one central machine gun, 13 built. ''Note: Breffort and Joiuineau say that 14 R4 aircraft were built.'' ;MB.131Ins :Dual control instructor version, 5 built. ;MB.131RB4 :Four-seat reconnaissance-bomber aircraft. Internal bomb bay and revised equipment. 121 built, including two prototypes refitted to this standard. ''Note: Breffort and Joiuineau say that 100 RB4 aircraft were built.'' ;MB.133 :Prototype with redesigned tail, 1 built. ;MB.134 :Prototype with two Hispano-Suiza 14AA engines, 1 built. ;MB.135 :A four engined derivative of the MB.134, powered by four Gnome-Rhône 14M 14 cylinder radial engines. ;MB.136 :

Operators

; *

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

operated 141 aircraft. ;

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

* Vichy aviation operated some aircraft. ; *''

'' operated captured aircraft in restricted roles. ; * Polish Air Forces in exile in France **'' Groupe de Bombardement Marche Polonais''

Specifications (MB.131RB.4)

References

Bibliography

* * * Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Seven Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft''. London: Macdonald, 1967. *

External links

Dassault official home page
{{Bloch aircraft MB.131 1930s French bomber aircraft 1930s French military reconnaissance aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1934 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft