FA+
Shop
The Br.1050 Alizé was a French carrier-based anti-submarine warfare(ASW) aircraft which entered in service in the Aéronavale in 1961.
Bréguet Aviation failed one of its projects in the early 50s, the Br.960 Vultur, an attack aeroplane which was powered by a truboprop engine and a reactor, too heavy for the aircraft carriers that France had at this time, the project was abandoned with only 3 prototypes built. Deceived by this failure, the Bréguet Aviation's engineer decided to design a new aircraft based on the same fuselage than the Vultur, the Nene jet engine was removed for be replaced by a retractable radar and the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba turboprop engine was replaced by a Rolls-Royce Dart, nevertheless, the demonstrator of the Alizé was the second prototype of the Vulture with a modified fuselage but with the Armstrong Siddeley engine. Other than the engines, the Alizé had its fuselage modified compared to the Vulture, it could now welcomed three crew members and the wings were also modified for get the both nacelles.
The first prototype of the Alizé flown for the first time the 5th October 1956, its flights skills were bad and the prototype passed several months of modifications. The two first prototypes were powered by the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba, it's only from the third and last prototype that the Alizé will receive a more powerful engine, the Rolls-Royce Dart RDa 21 turboprop engine. It did its first cat shots from the ground in May 1957 and its first cat shot from a ship on board of the HMS Eagle on March 1958.
The initial command of the French Naval Air Service of 100 crafts was reduced to 75 aircrafts for financial reasons, the first Alizé to be delivered to the Aéronavale arrived in March 1959.
Three Aircraft carriers received the Alizé, the first one was the Arromanches, and the two others were the sister ships Clémenceau and Foch.
With the time and the progress, the French navy had to modernised the Alizé several times, between 1964 and 1965, 30 Alizé were modified for carry a torpedo Mk-44 and two wire-guided air-sea missiles AS-12. In the early 80s, 28 others exemplares were modified for the be the Bréguet Alizé Modernisé or Bréguet ALM which is mostly a variant were the avionics were updated but which also added more flares under the left wing. Progressively, the ASW missions will change of functioning and the Alizé will receive a radar detector ARAR-12A which will serve in the FNAS until the arriving of the E-2C Hawkeye and of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
It's at the end of the year 1997 that the Alizé is removed of the high sea surveillance for do only missions of coastal surveillance. The last Alizé was mothballed the 15th September 2000, when the Foch was sold to the Brazilian Navy where it continue to serve as the São Paulo. 12 Alizé also served in the Indian Navy until 1991, when they were replaced by choppers.
At the end, it's 89 Bréguet Alizé which were built from 1957 to 1962.
In all it's career, the Alizé had counted 29 accidents which lead to damages on the crafts and 1 was shot down, this last one was one of the Indian Navy and was shot down by a F-104 Starfighter during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
I had talk few weeks ago with a former sailor of the Arromanches and who served in the Aéronavale for the preparation of the cat shots of the aircrafts, he told me that the Bréguet Alizé was truly redoubted by them because of its propeller and of its tricycle landing gear, some sailors had loose some parts of their arms (if it wasn't the arm itself) because of the proximity between the nose wheel and the propeller but it also gave good memories to its crew member and to the ground crew, for those who did not let an arm in it.
This exemple is the n°8 which currently serve on the roundabout of the BAN Rochefort (BAN = Base Aéro-Navale - Navy Air Base) and of the Gendarmerie (French Military Police) School of Rochefort.
Sorry for the low quality of the picture, I had some dust on my lens...
Bréguet Aviation failed one of its projects in the early 50s, the Br.960 Vultur, an attack aeroplane which was powered by a truboprop engine and a reactor, too heavy for the aircraft carriers that France had at this time, the project was abandoned with only 3 prototypes built. Deceived by this failure, the Bréguet Aviation's engineer decided to design a new aircraft based on the same fuselage than the Vultur, the Nene jet engine was removed for be replaced by a retractable radar and the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba turboprop engine was replaced by a Rolls-Royce Dart, nevertheless, the demonstrator of the Alizé was the second prototype of the Vulture with a modified fuselage but with the Armstrong Siddeley engine. Other than the engines, the Alizé had its fuselage modified compared to the Vulture, it could now welcomed three crew members and the wings were also modified for get the both nacelles.
The first prototype of the Alizé flown for the first time the 5th October 1956, its flights skills were bad and the prototype passed several months of modifications. The two first prototypes were powered by the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba, it's only from the third and last prototype that the Alizé will receive a more powerful engine, the Rolls-Royce Dart RDa 21 turboprop engine. It did its first cat shots from the ground in May 1957 and its first cat shot from a ship on board of the HMS Eagle on March 1958.
The initial command of the French Naval Air Service of 100 crafts was reduced to 75 aircrafts for financial reasons, the first Alizé to be delivered to the Aéronavale arrived in March 1959.
Three Aircraft carriers received the Alizé, the first one was the Arromanches, and the two others were the sister ships Clémenceau and Foch.
With the time and the progress, the French navy had to modernised the Alizé several times, between 1964 and 1965, 30 Alizé were modified for carry a torpedo Mk-44 and two wire-guided air-sea missiles AS-12. In the early 80s, 28 others exemplares were modified for the be the Bréguet Alizé Modernisé or Bréguet ALM which is mostly a variant were the avionics were updated but which also added more flares under the left wing. Progressively, the ASW missions will change of functioning and the Alizé will receive a radar detector ARAR-12A which will serve in the FNAS until the arriving of the E-2C Hawkeye and of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.
It's at the end of the year 1997 that the Alizé is removed of the high sea surveillance for do only missions of coastal surveillance. The last Alizé was mothballed the 15th September 2000, when the Foch was sold to the Brazilian Navy where it continue to serve as the São Paulo. 12 Alizé also served in the Indian Navy until 1991, when they were replaced by choppers.
At the end, it's 89 Bréguet Alizé which were built from 1957 to 1962.
In all it's career, the Alizé had counted 29 accidents which lead to damages on the crafts and 1 was shot down, this last one was one of the Indian Navy and was shot down by a F-104 Starfighter during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
I had talk few weeks ago with a former sailor of the Arromanches and who served in the Aéronavale for the preparation of the cat shots of the aircrafts, he told me that the Bréguet Alizé was truly redoubted by them because of its propeller and of its tricycle landing gear, some sailors had loose some parts of their arms (if it wasn't the arm itself) because of the proximity between the nose wheel and the propeller but it also gave good memories to its crew member and to the ground crew, for those who did not let an arm in it.
This exemple is the n°8 which currently serve on the roundabout of the BAN Rochefort (BAN = Base Aéro-Navale - Navy Air Base) and of the Gendarmerie (French Military Police) School of Rochefort.
Sorry for the low quality of the picture, I had some dust on my lens...
Category Photography / Miscellaneous
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1280 x 960px
File Size 569.2 kB
Comments