Morane-Saulnier MS.406

The Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 was a French fighter developed and manufactured by Morane-Saulnier from 1938 and was France's most numerous fighter of the Second World War. It grew out of the M.S.405 prototype, built in response to a 1934 French Air Force requirement for a modern single-seat interceptor, and was the company's first low-wing monoplane, its first design with an enclosed cockpit and its first with a retracting undercarriage. It entered service in early 1939 as the first modern fighter adopted by the French Air Force. Sturdy and manoeuvrable but underpowered and weakly armed, it was outperformed by the Messerschmitt Bf 109E in the Battle of France. It was exported to several countries, and Finland and Switzerland developed their own derivatives from it.