Sud Aviation Vautour

The Sud-Ouest S.O. 4050 Vautour, French for vulture, was a twin-jet multirole aircraft that served as a bomber, ground attack, reconnaissance and interceptor type. It was designed by SNCASO in answer to a June 1951 French Air Force requirement for a jet able to bomb, attack at low level and intercept in all weather, and was developed and built by what became Sud Aviation. The prototype first flew on 16 October 1952, and the production Vautour II, built in three variants, entered French service in 1958. The French fleet carried nuclear weapons in the strike force but never saw combat, and its lack of radar and advanced navigation equipment led to its replacement by the Dassault Mirage IV; the last frontline French aircraft were retired in 1979. Israel was the only export customer and used the Vautour in combat in the Six-Day War and the War of Attrition before replacing it with the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk in the early 1970s.