The ''Société anonyme des ateliers d'aviation Louis Breguet'' (), also known as Breguet Aviation (), was a French

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

manufacturer. The company was set up in 1911 by the aviation pioneer

Louis Charles Breguet Louis Charles Breguet (; 2 January 1880 in Paris – 4 May 1955 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye) was a French aircraft designer and builder, one of the early List of aviation pioneers, aviation pioneers. Biography Louis Charles Breguet was the g ...

. Breguet Aviation was extremely active during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, producing numerous military aircraft, such as the pioneering metal

Breguet 14 The Breguet XIV (in contemporary practice) or Breguet 14 is a French biplane bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of World War I. It was built in very large numbers and production continued for many years after the end of the war. The Breguet 14 w ...

day-bomber, for the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

. During the

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

period, the firm's aircraft set several records for non-stop crossings of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, as well as with the unconventional Breguet-Dorand Gyroplane Laboratoire. It was active during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, surviving the conflict and largely focusing on commercial transport aircraft during the

postwar A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

years. Its most notable military programmes during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

include the

Breguet 1150 Atlantic Breguet may refer to: * Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer ** Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker ** Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work * Breguet Aviati ...

and - with

British Aircraft Corporation The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric, English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs, Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), the Bristol Aeroplane ...

- the

SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is a British-French supersonic jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. As of 2025, the Jaguar remains in service with the ...

. During 1971, Breguet Aviation merged with

Dassault Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault SAS (; also GIM Dassault or Dassault Group) is a French corporate group established in 1929 with the creation of Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (now Dassault Aviation) by Marcel Dassault, later led by his so ...

to form ''Avions Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation'', which was subsequently rebranded as ''Dassault Aviation.

History

The company was founded during 1911 by Louis-Charles Breguet, an early French airplane designer and builder, and his brother, Jacques. The company's name is sometimes spelled Bréguet by mistake. That same year, Breguet's first airplane established a new speed record during a flight. In 1912, Breguet constructed his first

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

. During the

, the company produced a range of military-orientated aircraft to assist the French war effort. In particular, it developed capable reconnaissance aircraft that saw use not only during the conflict but long into the 1920s as well. During this time, Breguet Aviation also played a pioneering role in the development of metal aircraft, such as the

day-bomber (almost entirely made of

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

), which was one of the most famous French combat aircraft of its era. The Breguet-14's performance was such it was not only procured by the French military, but also exported to fill the ranks of sixteen squadrons of the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

. Unable to meet wartime demands for its designs itself, production agreements were made with other firms to produce its aircraft as well. Between 1917 and 1919, just under 2,000 Breguet-designed aircraft were license-produced by the aviation interest of French industrial conglomerate

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

During the

period, Breguet-built aircraft set several records; one plane performed the first non-stop crossing of the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

in 1927, while another made a 4,500-mile (7,242-kilometer) flight across the

during 1933, which was the longest non-stop Atlantic flight up to that time. During the 1930s, the firm developed the unconventional Breguet-Dorand Gyroplane Laboratoire, which flew by a combination of blade flapping and

feathering Feathering is a technique used in computer graphics software to smooth or blur the edges of a feature. The term is inherited from a technique of fine retouching using fine feathers. Paintbrush feathering Feathering is most commonly used on a ...

. On 22 December 1935, this aircraft established a

Federation Aeronautique Internationale A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governing status of the co ...

speed record of , while the type also set an altitude record of during the following year. Breguet was engaged in the rearmament efforts during the late 1930s, producing numerous military aircraft in the run-up to and during the

. After resuming normal operations in the immediate

climate, the company largely focused on the development of commercial transports and other large aircraft designs. On 4 May 1955, the company's founder, Louis-Charles Breguet, died in Paris, France. In response to a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

specification for a long-range maritime patrol aircraft to replace the Lockheed P2V Neptune, Breguet submitted its own design, the ''Br 1150'', which was chosen as the winner in late 1958. Accordingly, a multinational consortium, ''Société d'Étude et de Construction de Breguet Atlantic'' (SECBAT) was set up to develop and build this aircraft, which was named the 1150 Atlantic.''Air International'' November 1981, pp. 218, 252. An initial order for 60 Atlantics 40 for France and 20 for Germany was placed in 1963; deliveries of the Atlantic commenced during 1965. The production line was reactivated following further orders from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

; this second production batch made its deliveries between 1972 and 1974.''Air International'' November 1981, pp. 252–253. During 1978, the French Government authorised development of an updated version of the Atlantic, the ''Atlantic Nouvelle Génération'' or ''Atlantique 2'', which involved little change to either airframe or engines while equipment and avionics were extensively revised.''Air International'' November 1981, pp. 216–218. Deliveries started in 1989 with 28 eventually built, from an original requirement for 42.Lambert 1993, pp. 81–82. During the 1960s, Breguet Aviation became involved in the multinational

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

company SEPECAT (''Société Européenne de Production de l'Avion d'École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique'' – the "European company for the production of a combat trainer and tactical support aircraft"Wagner 2009, p. 122.) together with the

(BAC) to produce the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

strike aircraft. Though based in part on the Breguet Br.121, using the same basic configuration and an innovative French-designed landing gear, the Jaguar was built incorporating major elements of design from BAC – notably the wing and high lift devices.Jackson 1992, pp. 58, 71. Production of components was split between Breguet and BAC, while the aircraft themselves would be assembled on two production lines; one in the UK and one in France. To avoid any duplication of work, each aircraft component had only one source.''Flight'' 16 October 1969, p. 600. Reportedly, collaboration between BAC and Breguet went relatively well.Jackson 1992, p. 58. However, following Dassault's takeover of Breguet during 1971, the firm encouraged acceptance of its own designs, such as the Super Étendard naval attack aircraft and the

Mirage F1 The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the Mirage III family. During the 1960s, Dassault commenced development of what would become t ...

interceptor, for which the newly combined company would receive more workshare and profit, over the Jaguar.Wallace 1984, p. 27.Jackson 1992, p. 77.

Aircraft

Breguet-Richet Gyroplane The Breguet-Richet Gyroplane was an early French experimental quadcopter rotary-wing aircraft developed by Breguet Aviation. Design and development The Gyroplane No.I was one of the earliest attempts to create a practical rotary-wing aircraft. ...

(1907) - experimental single-seat helicopter-like craft with four rotors. *Breguet-Richet Gyroplane No.2 (1908) Tandem biplane with a pair of large inclined propellers providing both thrust and lift. * Breguet Type I (1909) - Single-seat

tractor configuration In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with boxkite-like tail on booms. * Breguet Type II (1910) - Development of the Type I, with a tricycle undercarriage and the tail carried at the end of a fuselage-like structure and a pair of booms. * Breguet Type III (1910) - Development of Type II, three-seat, rotary engine * Breguet Type IV (1911) - Development of Type III: the first aircraft to be produced in quantity by Breguet. Avion biplan Breguet 1911

* Breguet Type R.U1 (1911) - Single-engine biplane * Breguet Aerhydroplane (1913) - Single-engine one-seat seaplane. Did not fly * Breguet 4 (1914) - Single-engine two-seat biplane bomber. Pusher configuration * Breguet 5 (1915) - Single-engine two-seat biplane escort fighter. Variant of Bre.4 * Breguet 6 (1915) - Version of Breguet 5 with different engine * Breguet 12 (1918) - Version of Breguet 5 with 37mm cannon and searchlight (night fighter) *

(1916) - Single-engine two-seat biplane bomber aircraft * Breguet 16 (1918) - Larger version of Breguet 14. Bomber aircraft * Breguet 17 (1918) - Smaller version of Breguet 14. Fighter aircraft. * Breguet 19 (1922) - Single-engine two-seat biplane reconnaissance/light bomber/sport aircraft * Breguet 20 Leviathan (1922) - Twin/four-engine 20-seat airliner * Breguet 22 (1922-3) - Breguet 20 development * Breguet 26T (1926) - Single-engine biplane eight-passenger airliner * Breguet 280T (1928) - Development of 26T with improved fuselage aerodynamics *License built Short S.8 Calcutta (1928) - Three-engine fifteen-seat biplane transport aircraft * Breguet 27 (1929) - Single-engine two-seat biplane reconnaissance aircraft * Breguet 270 (1929) - Development of 27 using steel chassis * Breguet 393T (1931) - Three-engine biplane airliner * Breguet 410 - Twin-engine light bomber * Breguet-Dorand Gyroplane Laboratoire (1935) - Helicopter prototype * Breguet G.111 (1949) - coaxial helicopter prototype * Breguet 460 Vultur - Twin-engine light bomber * Breguet 470 Fulgur (1936) - Twin-engine airliner, only one example built. * Breguet 480 - Long-range bomber project * Breguet 482 (1947) - Four-engine bomber, designed prior to war, only a single example built * Breguet 500 Colmar - Transport development of the Br.480 * Breguet 521 Bizerte (1933) - Development of the S.8 Calcutta. Long-range patrol flying boat * Breguet 530 Saigon - Civilian version of 521 * Breguet 693 (1938) - Twin-engine two-seat monoplane ground attack/fighter aircraft * Breguet 730 (1938) - Four-engine long-range flying boat. . Also Br.731 * Breguet 763 Deux-Ponts (1949) - Br.761/763/765 Four-engine double-deck large airliner. Piston engines. * Breguet 790 Nautilus - Single-engine flying boat * Breguet 890 Mercure - Civil/military transport * Breguet Br 900 Louisette - (1948) Single-seat competition sailplane. * Breguet Br 901 Mouette - (1954) Single-seat competition sailplane. * Breguet Br 904 Nymphale - (1956) Two-seat sailplane. * Breguet Br 905 Fauvette - (1958) Single-seat competition sailplane. * Breguet 940 - Four-engine

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

transport aircraft. Turboprop engines * Breguet 941 (1961) - Four-engine

transport aircraft. Turboprop engines * Breguet 960 Vultur (1951) - Br.960 Twin-engine two-seat naval anti-submarine aircraft. Jet engine and turboprop engine (mixed power) * Breguet 1001 Taon (1957) - Br.1001 Single-engine single-seat jet strike aircraft. * Breguet 1050 Alizé (1956) - Br.1050 Single-engine three-seat naval anti-submarine aircraft. Turboprop engine Breguet 1100 fighter on the ground c1958

Breguet 1100 fighter on the ground c1958

* Breguet 1100 (1957) - Br.1100 Twin-engine jet fighter *

(1961) - Br.1150 Twin-engine naval reconnaissance aircraft. Turboprop engines

Leduc aircraft

* Leduc 0.10 * Leduc 0.21 * Leduc 0.22

Automobile production

Before 1914, in addition to producing aircraft, the firm produced a few six cylinder-engined cars. During the

, the company produced an electric car powered by batteries and propelled by an "off-the-shelf" motor from Paris-Rhône. The motor was capable of producing two different levels of output. "First gear" and "Reverse gear" were provided with 36 volts while "Second gear" equated to 72 volts. An advertisement for the car in 1941 claimed a range of between charges without mentioning that this range was only available when adhering to a steady cruising speed of . Cruising at a steady would, on the same basis, have given a range of . The car had a modern looking all-enveloping two-seater body with a relatively long tapered tail which contained the motor and some of the batteries. It had four wheels but the rear axle which delivered power to the road was relatively narrow. The car was actively marketed during 1941 which was a period of price instability. In August 1941 the Breguet electric car was priced at 56,000 francs: during the same month the Citroën Light bodied 11 (still listed despite production by now being down to a trickle or suspended) was priced at 35,630 francs. The Breguet electric car was produced not at the firm's principal plant at

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

but at a smaller plant at

Anglet Anglet (; , )ANGELU
Auñamendi Encyclopedia, Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia is a Communes of Fra ...

(between

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

and

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Bowman, Martin W. ''SEPECAT Jaguar.'' London: Pen and Sword Books, 2007. . * Elvert, Jürgen. Sylvain Schirmann, Peter Lang. ''Changing Times: Germany in 20th-Century Europe'', Peter Lang, 2008. . * Jackson, Paul. "SEPECAT Jaguar". ''World Air Power Journal''. Volume 11, Winter 1992, pp. 52–111. London: Aerospace Publishing, 1992. . . * Lambert, Mark. (editor). ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993–94''. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Data Division, 1993. . * "The New Generation Atlantics". ''

Air International ''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd. History and profile The magazine was fir ...

'', November 1981, Vol. 21 No. 5. pp. 213–218, 252–253. * Wagner, Paul J
''Air Force Tac Recce Aircraft: NATO and Non-aligned Western European Air Force Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft of the Cold War.''
Pittsburgh, PA: Dorrance Publishing, 2009. . * Wallace, William. ''Britain's Bilateral Links Within Western Europe.'' London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984. .

''

Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...

'' via ''flightglobal.com,'' 12 September 1968, p. 391.

External links

Dassault Aviation
{{Authority control Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France Manufacturing companies established in 1911 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1971 Defunct helicopter manufacturers French companies established in 1911 1971 disestablishments in France