Dassault Ouragan

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Dassault Ouragan
Ex-"Black Archers" Toofani (MD450 Ouragan) on display at the Indian Air Force Museum, Palam, New Delhi
Type Fighter-bomber
Manufacturer Dassault Aviation
SNCASE
SNCASO
Designed by Marcel Dassault
Maiden flight 28 February 1949
Retired 1980s
Primary users French Air Force
El Salvador Air Force
Indian Air Force
Israeli Air Force

The Dassault M.D.450 Ouragan (French: Hurricane) was a 1940s French jet fighter-bomber. While technologically unremarkable, Ouragan played a key role in resurgence of French aviation industry after World War II.

Contents

[edit] Design and development

As citizens of an occupied country, the French were not able to contribute significantly to the great strides made in aircraft design made during World War II. After the war, aviation designer Marcel Dassault was eager to re-establish the aviation industry with an all-French jet fighter, which was outlined in 1947. The government response to the proposal was positive but did not result in a development contract, so Dassault decided to proceed on his own.

Detailed design work on the new aircraft, which was given the designation M.D. (Marcel Dassault) 450, began in December 1947, with construction beginning on 7 April 1948 at Dassault's factory in Saint-Cloud. A French government contract for three prototypes followed on 29 June, and the first Ouragan fighter flew on 28 February 1949 with Constantin Rozanoff at the controls. The M.D.450-01 prototype lacked pressurization, armament, and the distinctive wingtip fuel tanks. Powered by a Hispano-Suiza-licensed Rolls-Royce Nene 102 centrifugal-flow jet engine generating 22.27 kN (2,270 kp/5,000 lbf) of thrust, the aircraft reached a top speed of 980 km/h (530 knots, 609 mph) and initial climb rate of 43 m/s (8,465 ft/min) in service trials in 1949. The 450 liter (118.9 US gal) wingtip tanks that would become the indelible feature of all Ouragans first appeared in December 1949. The pressurized second prototype, M.D.450-02, climbed to 15,000 m (49,210 ft), while the third prototype, M.D.450-03, was used in weapons trials with 15 mm and later 20 mm cannon.

The Ouragan was inspired by American designs, and its general layout was similar to the Republic F-84 Thunderjet, while the thin low-set straight wing was similar to that of the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star.

In July 1949, French Air Force ordered 15 pre-production aircraft (later reduced to 12), which were eventually used for evaluation of various engines (including SNECMA Atar), armament schemes, and payloads. On 31 August 1950, Dassault received an order for 150 production Ouragans, with an additional 200 ordered in the following years.

[edit] Operational history

The first production Ouragan flew on 5 December 1951. The type entered service with French Air Force in 1952, replacing the De Havilland Vampire. The first 50 Ouragans were built as M.D.450A with the Nene 102 engine; the rest were M.D.450B with a Hispano-Suiza-built Nene 104B engine, lighter than the Nene 102 with slightly greater thrust. Wingtip fuel tanks were fitted as standard in both variants.

Pilots found the Ouragan to be generally pleasant to fly and a very stable gun and rocket platform, although due to its short-coupled fuselage, the aircraft had a tendency to snap into a spin in tight turns. However, for two years, the Ouragon successfully performed with la Patrouille de France aerobatic team.

In French service, the Dassault Mystère IV completely replaced the Ouragan by 1961.

[edit] India

On 25 June 1953, India ordered 71 Ouragans with the slightly uprated Nene 105 engine, with most of the order delivered that year. Additional orders brought the total to 104, though only the first 71 were new-build aircraft. The Indians named the aircraft Toofani (Hindi: Hurricane). As was the case in France, the Ouragan was replaced in front line service with the Mystère IVA by 1958. There is no evidence that Indian Ouragans were ever used in combat.

[edit] Israel

In contrast to France and India, the Israeli Air Force was an enthusiastic Ouragan user. Seeking to augment its jet aircraft force of British Gloster Meteors, IAF initially considered French Dassault Mystère IIC and Canadian-built F-86 Sabre Mk 6 fighters. Due to development problems with the Mystère and a Canadian embargo on the Sabres, the order was changed to Mystère IVAs, with a batch of Ouragans purchased as a stop-gap measure. By 1955, the IAF had received at least 75 aircraft, comprising a mix of newly-built and retired French Air Force examples.

Israeli Ouragans entered combat on 12 April 1956, shooting down an Egyptian Vampire.[1] At the onset of the Suez Crisis on 29 October 1956, Ouragans shot down an additional four Vampires. The two documented encounters with Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighters (also powered by the Nene engine but with a more modern swept wing) ended with one Ouragan surviving several 37 mm (1.46 in) cannon hits to fly the next day and one MiG-15 being heavily damaged after it entered a turning dogfight with the Ouragans.[1] The poor training of the Egyptian pilots who were consistently unable to realize their advantage in numbers as well as the MiG-15's speed and climb characteristics helped Ouragans to survive despite their inferior performance.[1] On 31 October, a pair of Ouragans armed with rockets strafed the Egyptian destroyer Ibrahim-el-Awal, resulting in the capture of the ship.

The Ouragans were relegated to advanced training shortly after the Suez Crisis, although they saw more combat in the 1967 Six-Day War. In 1975, the IAF sold 18 Ouragans to El Salvador, where they remained in service until the late 1980s.

[edit] Variants

M.D.450A
First 50 production aircraft, Nene 102 engine.
M.D.450B
Hispano-Suiza-built Nene 104B engine, revised two-section nose landing gear doors as the original four-section design was prone to damage when the cannon were fired.
M.D.450R
Reconnaissance variant, only one built.
M.D.450-30L
One pre-production prototype fitted with a SNECMA Atar 101b engine, air intakes on the sides of the fuselage, and two 30 mm DEFA cannon.
Barougan
Four production aircraft modified for rough field operation with the two-wheel main landing gear with low-pressure tires retracting into a fairing added under the wing roots, and a brake parachute. The configuration was intended for operations in Algeria, and the nickname came from the Arab word "baroud," meaning "battle." First flight 24 February 1954. Despite good performance, the project was abandoned in 1958 with two aircraft converted back to standard Ouragans.

[edit] Operators

[edit] Survivors

A number of MD.450 Ouragan examples are preserved in France including #251 and #450/"4-US", part of the jet aircraft collection at Chateau Savigny-les-Beaune. The Musee de l'Air et de l'Espace at la Bourget has #154/ "4-LT" painted in a colorful "Indian-head" scheme but a previous code is just visible under the 4-LT markings. Ouragan #214/"UG," previously stored, is exhibited in the "Patrouille de France" paint scheme at the "Musée Européen de l'Aviation de Chasse," Montélimar. Israeli Air Force Ouragan "113," a combat veteran and survivor of the 1956 Suez War and 1967 Six-Day War, is on outdoor display at the Israel Air Force Museum. An MD.450 Ouragan (Toofani), "IC 554," is on display at the Indian Air Force Museum, Palam, New Delhi. It was painted earlier in grey-green camouflage but now appears in natural metal in No. 47 "Black Archers" Squadron markings.

[edit] Specifications (M.D.450B)

Data from [1] and [2]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

  • 4x 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon, 125 rounds/gun
  • Underwing hardpoints for 16x 105 mm (4.1 in) Brandt T-10 rockets or eight rockets and 2x 458 l (121 US gal) napalm tanks or 2x 454 kg (1,000 lb) bombs

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Munson 1967
  2. ^ Green 2001
  • Donald, David and Lake Jon, eds. Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft. London: AIRtime Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-880588-24-2.
  • Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. The Great Book of Fighters. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI Publishing, 2001. ISBN 0-7603-1194-3.
  • Kopenhagen, W. (ed.) Das groβe Flugzeug-Typenbuch. Stuttgart: Transpress Publishing House, 1987. ISBN 3-344-00162-0.
  • Munson, Kenneth. The Dassault M.D. 450 Ouragan: Profile 143. London: Profile Publications, 1967.

[edit] Related content

Related development

Dassault Mystère

Comparable aircraft

MiG-9 - F-80 Shooting Star - F-84 Thunderjet - de Havilland Vampire

Designation sequence

MD.450 - MD.452 - MD.453 - MD.454

v • d • e
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The initial version of this article was based on a public domain article from Greg Goebel's Vectorsite.

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