![]() ![]() Great performance and military payload capacity turn the Étendard IV M into an excellent assault fighter. This new model consisted in a more powerful engine, an ATAR 8, reinforced fuselage and landing gear, as well as better flight physics, including a larger wing area to compensate for additional weight.įive pre-serial aircraft were ordered, the first of them flew on May 21st 1958. The Navy requested a naval version that became Étendard IV M. ![]() The latter first envisioned ordering 300 units, but dropped the idea in favor of the upcoming Mirage III. Both French Navy and French Air Force gained interest into the aircraft after its maiden flight took place on July 24th, 1956. Meanwhile and using company funding, Dassault developed the Étendard IV, a heavier fighter powered by an ATAR 101 turbojet. In the end, the NATO contract was awarded to the Fiat G91, while the French Air Force didn’t order the insufficiently powerful Étendard II. At the same time, NATO opened a call for tender for european air forces to use a fighter with similar characteristics, but using a Bristol Orpheus turbojet Dassault replied with the Étendard VI. Dassault responded to this using the Mystère XXII, to be known as Étendard II. After the Korean War, the French Air Force acknowledged its flaws and ordered a study for a fighter, light support twin-engined aircraft.
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