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The Dassault Étendard IV is a
transonic Transonic (or transsonic) flow is air flowing around an object at a speed that generates regions of both subsonic and Supersonic speed, supersonic airflow around that object. The exact range of speeds depends on the object's critical Mach numb ...
carrier-borne A carrier-based aircraft (also known as carrier-capable aircraft, carrier-borne aircraft, carrier aircraft or aeronaval aircraft) is a naval aircraft designed for operations from aircraft carriers. Carrier-based aircraft must be able to launch i ...
strike
fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...
developed and manufactured by French aerospace company
Dassault Aviation Dassault Aviation SA () is a French Aerospace manufacturer, manufacturer of military aircraft and business jets. It was founded in 1929 by Marcel Dassault, Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (Marcel Bloch Aircraft Company). After ...
. Development of the Étendard originally commenced during the 1950s. Despite not having attracted the interests of either the
French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...
or any of the
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 ...
air forces, a more powerful proposal had attracted the interest of the
French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
. Accordingly, Dassault developed a navalised demonstrator, which made its first flight on 24 July 1956. Its performance having met with the service's satisfaction, the French Navy ordered the type into production, receiving a total of 69 ''Étendard IVM'' fighters, in addition to 21 ''Étendard IVP'', the latter being a specialised
aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or Strategy, strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including Artillery observer, artillery spott ...
variant. The Étendard would serve as the basis for the more advanced
Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard The Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard (''Étendard'' is French for "War flag, battle flag", cognate to English "standard") is a French carrier-based aircraft, carrier-borne attack aircraft, strike fighter aircraft designed by Dassault Aviation, ...
. During the 1970s, it had been intended to replace the Étendard IV with a navalised version of 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 ...
, designated as the ''Jaguar M''. However, development of the Jaguar M was terminated and, shortly after, it was announced that the Super Étendard had been ordered in its place. For a time, the Étendard IV was operated alongside its improved model before being progressively withdrawn during the 1980s. In 1991, the fighter models of the type was finally retired from service by its sole operator, while the reconnaissance variant was withdrawn during 2000.


Development

The Étendard has its origins in the early 1950s, with the experiences of combatants in the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
and the lessons derived from it subsequently. Two separate specifications were offered to French manufacturers: one for the
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...
and the other for the numerous air forces of the multinational
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 ...
alliance. In response,
Dassault Aviation Dassault Aviation SA () is a French Aerospace manufacturer, manufacturer of military aircraft and business jets. It was founded in 1929 by Marcel Dassault, Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch (Marcel Bloch Aircraft Company). After ...
drew up a single basic design, with the intention that variants of it would satisfy both specifications. These variants were designated Étendard II and Étendard VI respectively; according to Dassault, these aircraft would have incorporated major advances in terms of high lift devices, which enabled lower take-off and landing speeds to be used. The Étendard II was evidently optimised for speed and payload, while the Étendard VI was a more lightweight variant, aimed at export markets. However, despite the building of a prototype for both variants, there was initially little interest on the part of both the French military and other potential buyers. However, this lack of demand did not curtail Dassault's ambitions. Early on, the company had decided to embark on the development of a larger and more powerful variant, which was originally designated as the ''Mystère XXIV'', as a private venture in parallel to the issued specifications. The
French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
showed open interest in this prospective Mystère XXIV variant. Bolstered by this, Dassault proceeded with the construction of a single navalised prototype, features of which included new navigation and radar systems, folding wings, deck landing hooks, along with the reinforcement of the fuselage. Following a series of ground tests, its
maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. In the early days of aviation it could be dange ...
occurred on 24 July 1956. Meanwhile, the French Navy sought to acquire the Étendard, once tests had deemed it suitable as a carrier-based ground attack aircraft, along with a secondary, low-altitude interception role. As part of the trials process, a total of five pre-production aircraft were manufactured. Flight testing of the type revealed it to have favourable performance qualities, including a relatively high external load capacity. Having been sufficiently satisfied with this demonstration of the aircraft's capabilities and performance attributes, the French Navy opted to procure a total of 69 ''Étendard IVM'' fighters and 21 ''Étendard IVP''
aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or Strategy, strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including Artillery observer, artillery spott ...
aircraft. The ''Jaguar M'', a navalized variant of the Anglo-French
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 ...
, was intended to be the Étendard's replacement, but this effort was derailed by political
lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...
on the part of Dassault, who instead favoured their own proposal, which was an advanced version of the Étendard. This model would go on to be ordered by the French Navy, with whom it would enter service as the Super Étendard. Eventually, the more capable Super Étendard would succeed the Étendard in service.


Design

The Étendard was a relatively lightweight navalised attack fighter. In service, it was often noted for its popularity with its pilots due to its high level of manoeuvrability. It featured a highly
swept wing A swept wing is a wing angled either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than perpendicular to the fuselage. Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigated in Ge ...
, which was furnished with double-slotted flaps and spoilers, as well as powered
aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement aroun ...
s and
leading-edge droop flap The leading-edge droop flap is a device on the leading edge of aircraft wings designed to improve airflow at high angles of attack. The droop flap is similar to the leading-edge slat and the Krueger flap, but with the difference that the entire l ...
s. To take up less room onboard aircraft carriers when being stored, the wings of the Étendard were designed to be foldable. The type was powered by a single
SNECMA Atar The Snecma Atar is a French axial-flow turbojet engine built by Snecma. It was derived from the German World War II BMW 018 design, and developed by ex-BMW engineers through a progression of more powerful models. The name is derived from it ...
turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
engine, which had also powered the
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...
's
Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizont ...
. The engine's configuration was broadly similar to that of the Mirage III's powerplant, albeit with the exception of the removed
afterburner An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat ...
. In flight, the Étendard was capable of attaining
transonic Transonic (or transsonic) flow is air flowing around an object at a speed that generates regions of both subsonic and Supersonic speed, supersonic airflow around that object. The exact range of speeds depends on the object's critical Mach numb ...
speeds, being only able to exceed the speed of sound when in a dive.Gunston and Gilchrist 1993, p. 169. The Étendard could be furnished with various equipment to carry out its mission roles, which included attack, photo-reconnaissance, and
aerial refueling Aerial refueling ( en-us), or aerial refuelling ( en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to an ...
tanking. In addition to the standard dual 30mm
DEFA cannon The DEFA cannon (''Direction des Études et Fabrications d'Armement'') is a family of widely used French-made aircraft revolver cannon firing 30 mm caliber NATO standard rounds. Design history The initial DEFA 551 was developed in the late 1940s ...
, various armaments and munitions could be carried on the four wing-mounted
hardpoint A hardpoint is an attachment location on a structural frame designed to transfer force and carry an external or internal structural load, load. The term is usually used to refer to the mounting points (more formally known as a weapon station o ...
s, such as short range
air-to-air missile An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft (including unmanned aircraft such as cruise missiles). AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid-fuel roc ...
s,
air-to-surface missile An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common prop ...
s,
rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...
pods,
bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
s, and
drop tank In aviation, a drop tank (external tank, wing tank or belly tank) is used to describe auxiliary fuel tanks externally carried by aircraft. A drop tank is expendable and often capable of being jettisoned. External tanks are commonplace on modern ...
s. A retractable nose-mounted refueling probe was also fitted. Other optional equipment included a
tactical air navigation system A tactical air navigation system, commonly referred to by the acronym TACAN, is a navigation system initially designed for naval aircraft to acquire moving landing platforms (i.e., ships) and later expanded for use by other military aircraft. It p ...
(TACAN) receiver and a
drogue parachute A drogue parachute, also called drag chute, is a parachute designed for deployment from a rapidly moving object. It can be used for various purposes, such as to decrease speed, to provide control and stability, as a pilot parachute to deploy ...
, the latter of which could be used to assist braking during land operations. A compact Dassault-built Aida
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
unit was installed within the aircraft's nose, along with a compact
infrared sensor Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared imag ...
, which could be used for guiding various munitions. Alongside the Aida radar unit, a Swedish-made SAAB bombing computer was added to increase accuracy. The aerial reconnaissance-orientated ''Étendard IVP'' was largely similar to the fighter model of the aircraft, but did have some key differences. An arrangement of five
OMERA ''The Mandalorian'', an American space Western television series set in the ''Star Wars'' universe created by Jon Favreau and released on Disney+, features an extensive cast of characters. Since the show's debut on November 12, 2019, only one ...
cameras was housed within the aircraft's lengthy nose; furthermore, the ventral bay could also accommodate a number of long-focus cameras in lieu of the cannon armament. While a refuelling probe was also present on reconnaissance aircraft, this was non-retractable due to a lack of available space in the interior of the nose.


Operational history

During December 1961, the French Navy took delivery of their first Étendards. The following year, the type was deployed for the first time aboard both of the service's newly built ''Clemenceau''-class
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
s, the ''Clemenceau'' and ''Foch''.Haskew 2015, pp. 217-218. The Étendard IVM was in French Navy service for several decades, even following the development of the more capable Super Étendard. The type was gradually relegated to secondary missions in favour of the Super Étendard; as such, it was phased out from active combat roles during 1987. The last examples of the fighter-orientated model were withdrawn during July 1991, the type's final use having been with Squadron 59S, a ship-borne fighter school. Throughout its service life, the Étendard fleet had reportedly flown for a combined 180,000 flight hours, during which 25,300 landings had been conducted. The reconnaissance-focused Étendard IVP outlived its fighter cousin, having remained in active service until 27 July 2000. According to Dassault, by this point, the Étendard had reportedly carried out in excess of 200,000 flight hours.


Variants

; Étendard IV: The prototype powered by a
SNECMA ATAR 101E3 The SNECMA ATAR 101 is a French axial-flow turbojet engine built by SNECMA. It was derived from engines and design work carried out at BMW in Germany during World War II, and extensively developed though a progression of more powerful models. Th ...
, first flown on 24 July 1956. ; Étendard IVB: One prototype fitted with a thrust
Rolls-Royce Avon The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ai ...
engine and blown flaps. ; Étendard IVM: Single-seat Maritime strike fighter aircraft for the
French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
. ; Étendard IVP: Single-seat Photo reconnaissance aircraft for the French Navy.


Operators

; *
French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...
**
French Naval Aviation French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: (contraction of ), or , or more simply ) is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is . Born as a fusion of aircraft carrier squadrons and the naval pat ...
(''Aviation navale'') *** Flottille 11F *** Flottille 15F *** Flottille 16F ***
Flottille 17F Flottille 17F is a squadron of French Naval Aviation which currently flies the Dassault Rafale M from Landivisiau Naval Air Base. It was formed during April 1958 at Hyeres Naval Air Base and flew the Vought F4U7 Corsair for training purposes. ...
*** Escadrille 59S


Specifications (Étendard IVM)


See also


References


Citations


Bibliography

*Carbonel, Jean-Christophe. ''French Secret Projects 1: Post War Fighters''. Manchester, UK: Crecy Publishing, 2016 * Carpentier, Jean. ''Un Demi-Siècle d’Aéronqutique en France''. Comité pour l’Historique de L’Aéronautique, 2004. * Crosby, Francis. ''Complete Guide to Fighters and Bombers of the World.'' Hermes House, 2006. . * Gunston, Bill and Peter Gilchrist. ''Jet Bombers: From the Messerschmitt Me 262 to the Stealth B-2''. Osprey, 1993. . * Haskew, Michael. ''Aircraft Carriers: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Important Warships''. Voyageur Press, 2015. . *


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dassault Etendard Iv Carrier-based aircraft 1950s French fighter aircraft Etendard IV Single-engined jet aircraft Cruciform tail aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1958 Second-generation jet fighters Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear