Bréguet 1050 Alizé

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Br.1050 Alizé
Role Anti-submarine aircraft
National origin France
Manufacturer
Bréguet Aviation
First flight 6 October 1956
Introduction 29 May 1959
Retired 2000
Primary users French Navy
Indian Navy
Produced 1957–1962
Number built 89

The Bréguet Br.1050 Alizé (French: "Tradewind") is a French carrier-based anti-submarine warfare aircraft. It was developed in the 1950s, based loosely on the second prototype Bréguet Vultur attack aircraft which had been modified into the Bréguet Br.965 Épaulard anti-submarine warfare aircraft.

Design

The prototype Alizé at the 1957 Paris Air Show wearing Aéronavale markings

The Alizé was a low-wing

sonobuoys. The Alizé had a yoke-style arresting hook
.

The internal weapons bay could accommodate a homing

AS.12
wire-guided antiship missiles.

Operational history

Indian carrier INS Vikrant launching an Alize during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war
Naval Aviation Museum
, Goa, India
Last airworthy Alizé at Muret, 2016

The prototype Alizé first flew on 6 October 1956. It was exhibited at the

Paris Le Bourget Airport
in May 1957.

A total of 89 examples of the Alizé were built between 1957 and 1962, including two preproduction prototypes. 75 production aircraft were acquired by the

Foch, and were also used in shore-based training. 12 were acquired by the Indian Navy
. Some sources say that there were five preproduction prototypes, which may mean some of the prototypes were brought up to production standard and passed on to the Aéronavale; and that India acquired 17 examples, which hints that they bought five used aircraft from the Aéronavale.

The Indian Navy operated the Alizé from shore bases and from the light carrier

LTTE
and crippling the merchant ship Progress Light. The type was finally phased out in 1991, replaced in its duties by ASW helicopters.

The Aéronavale provided the Alizé with a series of upgrades. A modernization program performed in the early 1980s refitted 28 of the aircraft to the Br.1050M standard, featuring improved Thomson-CSF Iguane radar as used on the Atlantique NG ocean-patrol aircraft, new OMEGA radio navigation gear, and a new ARAR 12 radar and radio location ("electronic support measures / ESM") system.

Another upgrade program in the early 1990s fitted 24 of these aircraft with a new decoy system; a microcomputer-based data processing system; a datalink system; and other new avionics. Later in the decade, they were also fitted with the Thomson-CSF TTD Optronique Chlio forward-looking infrared (FLIR) imaging sensor. Despite the upgrades, by this time the Alizé was clearly not capable of hunting modern nuclear submarines, and so it was relegated to ocean surface patrol.

As late as 1997, the Aéronavale was still operating 24 examples for surface patrol. The Alizé was used operationally during the

Foch
. The last Alizé was withdrawn from service in 2000 with the retirement of the Foch.

Operators

 France
 India

Specifications (Bréguet Alizé)

Data from Jane's Civil and Military Upgrades 1994-95 [2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 3 (pilot, radar operator, navigator)
  • Length: 13.86 m (45 ft 6 in)
  • Wingspan: 15.6 m (51 ft 2 in)
  • Height: 5 m (16 ft 5 in)
  • Wing area: 36 m2 (390 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 5,700 kg (12,566 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 8,200 kg (18,078 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce RDa.7 Dart Mk 21 turboprop, 1,565 kW (2,099 hp)
  • Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering reversible propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 518 km/h (322 mph, 280 kn) at 3,050 m (10,007 ft)
460 km/h (290 mph; 250 kn) at sea level
  • Cruise speed: 240–370 km/h (150–230 mph, 130–200 kn)
  • Range: 2,500 km (1,600 mi, 1,300 nmi)
  • Endurance: 5 hr 10 min
  • Service ceiling: 8,000 m (26,000 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 7 m/s (1,400 ft/min)
  • Wing loading: 229 kg/m2 (47 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 0.20 kW/kg (0.12 hp/lb)

Armament

  • Torpedo or depth charges carried in internal bay
  • Bombs, depth charges, rockets, or missiles carried on underwing pylons

See also

Related development

  • Bréguet Épaulard
  • Breguet Vultur

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

  1. ^ http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/Galleries/History/AirArm/Alize/
  2. ^ Michell 1994, pp. 57–58.

Bibliography

  • Cuny, Jean (1989). Les avions de combat français, 2: Chasse lourde, bombardement, assaut, exploration [French Combat Aircraft 2: Heavy Fighters, Bombers, Attack, Reconnaissance]. Docavia (in French). Vol. 30. Ed. Larivière.
    OCLC 36836833
    .
  • Cuny, Jean & Leyvastre, Pierre (1977). Les Avions Breguet (1940/1971) [Breguet Aircraft (1940/1971)]. Docavia (in French). Vol. 6. Paris: Editions Larivière.
    OCLC 440863702
    .
  • Lacaze, Henri (2016). Les avions Louis Breguet Paris [The Aircraft of Louis Breguet, Paris] (in French). Vol. 2: le règne du monoplan. Le Vigen, France.
    ISBN 978-2-914017-89-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  • Michell, Simon. (editor). Jane's Civil and Military Aircraft Upgrades 1994-95. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Information Group, 1994.
    ISBN 0-7106-1208-7
    .
  • The initial version of this article was based on a public domain article from Greg Goebel's Vectorsite.

External links

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