Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard
| Super Étendard | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A Super Étendard in 1988. | |
| Role | Attack aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Dassault-Breguet |
| First flight | 28 October 1974 |
| Introduction | June 1978 |
| Retired | July 2016 (French Navy) |
| Status | Limited service |
| Primary users |
French Navy (historical) Argentine Navy Iraqi Air Force (historical) |
| Produced | 1974–1983 |
| Number built | 85 |
| Developed from | Dassault Étendard IV |
The Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard (Étendard is French for "battle flag") is a French carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft designed by Dassault-Breguet for service with the French Navy. The aircraft is an advanced development of the Étendard IVM. The Super Étendard first flew in October 1974 and entered French service in June 1978. French Super Étendards have served in several conflicts such as the Kosovo war, the war in Afghanistan and the military intervention in Libya.
The Super Étendard was also operated by Iraq and Argentina, who both deployed the aircraft during wartime. The Super Étendard was used by Iraq to attack oil tankers and merchant shipping in the Persian Gulf during the Iraq-Iran War. Argentina's use of the Super Étendard and the Exocet missile during the 1982 Falklands War led to the aircraft gaining considerable popular recognition. In French service, the Super Étendard was replaced by the Dassault Rafale in 2016.
The Super Étendard is a development of the earlier Étendard IVM which had been developed in the 1950s. The Étendard IVM was originally to have been replaced by a navalised version of the SEPECAT Jaguar, designated as the Jaguar M; however the Jaguar M project was stalled by a combination of political problems and issues experienced during trial deployments on board carriers. Specifically, the Jaguar M had suffered handling problems when being flown on a single engine and a poor throttle response time that made landing back on a carrier after an engine failure difficult. In 1973, all development work on the Jaguar M was formally cancelled by the French government.
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