Dassault Mystère IV

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MD.454 Mystère IV
Dassault Mystère IVA preserved at the
Musée de l'Air
.
Role Fighter-bomber
National origin France
Manufacturer Dassault Aviation
First flight 28 September 1952
Introduction April 1953
Retired 1980s
Primary users
French Air Force
Indian Air Force
Israeli Air Force
Produced 1953–1958
Number built 411
Developed from Dassault Mystère
Developed into Dassault Super Mystère

The Dassault MD.454 Mystère IV is a 1950s French

1967 Six Day War
.

Design and development

The Mystère IV was an evolutionary development of the

Rolls-Royce Tay turbojets
, while the remainder had the French-built Hispano-Suiza Verdon 350 version of that engine.

Operational history

French Mystère IV As at Bitburg Air Base (Germany), early 1960s

Israeli Mystère IVs saw action during the

Suez crisis
.

France

France was the main operator of the Mystère IV and at the peak usage operated 6 squadrons. Most of the aircraft were purchased under a United States Offshore Procurement contract[2] and many were returned to US custody after they were retired.[3] In April 1953 the United States government and the United States Air Force placed an order for 223 aircraft to be operated by the French.[3]

The new Mystère IVs were used in the 1956 Suez Crisis and continued in use into the 1980s.[3]

Israel

The Mystère IV became Israel's first swept-wing fighter when an order for Mystère IIs was changed to 24 Mystère IVs in 1955, which were delivered from April to June 1956, equipping 101 Squadron. A further 36 were delivered in August 1956, with a final aircraft, equipped for reconnaissance duties, delivered in September 1956.[4]

On 29 October 1956, when Israel attacked Egypt in the opening move of what became known as the

MiG-15s. The Mystères shot down one MiG while a second MiG and one of the Mystères were damaged. On the next day, two Mystères engaged claimed four Egyptian De Havilland Vampires shot down, with another MiG-15 and a MiG-17 claimed later that day.[6] Israeli Mystères flew a total of 147 sorties during the war, for the loss of a single aircraft, shot down by ground fire on 2 November.[7]

A second squadron, 109 Squadron was equipped with the Mystère IV in December 1956,[7] while 101 Squadron passed its Mystères to 116 Squadron in November 1961.[8] Israel planned to replace the Mystère IV with the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, but 109 and 116 Squadron still operated the French fighter on the outbreak of the Six-Day War. The Mystère was used as a ground attack aircraft during the war, flying 610 sorties, claiming three Arab aircraft (two MiG-17s and a Jordanian Hawker Hunter) shot down for the loss of seven Mystères, five to ground fire and two by enemy fighters (one by an Egyptian MiG-21 and one by a Jordanian Hunter flown by PAF pilot Saiful Azam).[9]

The Mystère was finally retired from Israeli service on 18 March 1971.[10]

India

India procured 104 aircraft in 1957 and used them extensively in the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
.

On 16 September 1965 a Mystère IVA shot down a Pakistani

Devayya died in the crash and was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra posthumously, 23 years after the battle.[11][12]

During the beginning of this offensive a PAF F-104 shot down an Indian Air Force Mystère IV with one of its AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles making the first combat kill with a Mach 2-capable aircraft.[13]

During the campaign Mystère IVs also destroyed Pakistani aircraft on the ground including four

F-86F, three F-104 and 2 Lockheed C-130 Hercules transports.[14]

The phasing out of the aircraft started soon after the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War, though it saw further action in the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
, it was completely phased out of the Indian Air Force by 1973.

Variants

Mystère IV
Prototype powered by a Rolls-Royce Tay 250 engine
Mystère IVA
Dassault Mystère IVA 8-MT at Duxford
Production fighter-bomber, 421 built, first 50 with the Rolls-Royce Tay 250 the remaining 371 with a French derivative of the Tay, the Hispano-Suiza Verdon.
Mystère IVB
In addition to production Mystère IVA,
SNECMA Atar 101 (third prototype) afterburning engine and a radar ranging gunsight. Six pre-production aircraft were built but the project was abandoned in favour of the promising Super Mystère. In 1954, French pilot Constantin Rozanoff
was killed while doing a low-level flyover of this aircraft.
The only Mystère IVN in flight.
Mystère IVN
Dassault also proposed a two-seat all-weather
F-86K Sabre
for the interceptor role but the Mystère IVN prototype continued to fly for several years as a testbed for radar equipment.

Operators

Dassault Mystère IV MD 454
 France
  • French Air Force
    , 241 delivered
 India
 Israel

Aircraft on display

Israel

United Kingdom

USA

  • 57 – Dassault Mystère IVA at the
    Tucson, Arizona.[17]

Specifications (Mystère IVA)

Mystère IVA 3-view drawings

Data from The Complete Book of Fighters[18]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 12.89 m (42 ft 3 in)
  • Wingspan: 11.12 m (36 ft 6 in)
  • Height: 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
  • Wing area: 32.06 m2 (345.1 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 5,860 kg (12,919 lb)
  • Gross weight: 8,510 kg (18,761 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 9,500 kg (20,944 lb) [19]
  • Powerplant: 1 ×
    Hispano-Suiza Verdon 350 turbojet
    engine, 34.32 kN (7,720 lbf) thrust

Performance

2,280 km (1,420 mi; 1,230 nmi) with external tanks[18]
  • Service ceiling: 15,000 m (49,000 ft) [19]
  • Rate of climb: 40 m/s (7,900 ft/min)

Armament

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Record setting pilots

References

Notes

  1. ISBN 0-7603-1124-2
    .
  2. ^ Lord Ismay (23 April 1953). "NATO announces $550,000,000 aircraft programme". NATO.
  3. ^ a b c Orbis 1985, pp. 3605-1608
  4. ^ Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, pp. 15–16.
  5. ^ Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, pp. 17–18.
  6. ^ Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 18.
  7. ^ a b Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 19.
  8. ^ Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 20.
  9. ^ Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, pp. 21–23.
  10. ^ Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 23.
  11. ^ "Maha Vir Chakra awards (IAF)". Bharat Rakshak (Indian Armed Forces). Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  12. ^ "Maha Vir Chakra awards (1988)". Bharat Rakshak (Indian Armed Forces). Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  13. ^ Dutch Aviation Society. "Armed Forces Overviews - Pakistan Air Force / پاک فضائیہ (Pakistan Fiza'ya)". Dutch Aviation Society.
  14. ^ B. Harry (2 September 2006). "IAF COMBAT KILLS - 1965 INDO-PAK AIR WAR" (PDF). orbat.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  15. ^ Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 16.
  16. ^ "Aircraft List". City of Norwich Aviation Museum. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  17. ^ "Aiframe Dossier". Aerial Visuals. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  18. ^ a b Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 149.
  19. ^ a b c Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 15.
  20. ^ Bridgman 1955, p. 139.

Bibliography

External links

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