Dassault Super Étendard
Encyclopedia
The Dassault-Breguet
Super Étendard (Étendard is French
for "battle flag
") is a French
carrier-borne
strike fighter
aircraft designed for service with the French Navy
. The aircraft entered service in June 1978 and was first used in combat by Argentina
during the 1982 Falklands War
.
(the Jaguar M), until this plan was stalled by political problems, together with problems with operating the Jaguar aboard ships, including handling problems when flying on a single engine and poor throttle response that made landing back on a carrier after an engine failure difficult. Instead, Dassault proposed an improved version of the Étendard IVM, with a more powerful engine, a new wing and improved avionics. This proposal was accepted by the French Navy in 1973 as the Super Étendard.
The Super Étendard is a small, single-engined, mid-winged aircraft with an all-metal structure. Both the wings and tailplane
are swept, with the folding wings having a sweepback of about 45 degrees, while the aircraft is powered by a non-afterburning SNECMA Atar 9K-50
turbojet with a rating of 49 kN (11,025 lbf). It is fitted with a Thomson-CSF
Agave radar, closely integrated with the new air-launched version of Aérospatiale
's anti-shipping missile, the AM 39 Exocet
, which forms the main anti-ship armament of the aircraft. French Étendards could also carry tactical nuclear weapons.
The first of three prototypes, a IVM modified with the new engine and some of the new avionics, made its maiden flight on 28 October 1974. The French Navy initially ordered 60 of the new model, with options for a further 20, but budget cuts lead to only 71 being purchased in the end, with deliveries starting in June 1978, while the Argentinian Navy ordered a further 14. Production was completed in 1983.
decided to buy 14 Super Étendards in 1980, after the United States
put an arms embargo in place—due to the Dirty War
—and refused to supply spare parts for their A-4Q Skyhawks
. Assigned to 2nd Naval Air Fighter/Attack Squadron
, Argentine pilots used French flight trainers between November 1980 and August 1981 in France
, but at the time of the Falklands War
, they had received only 45 hours of actual flight time in the aircraft. Between August and November 1981, five Super Étendards and five Exocets were shipped to Argentina
. All five of the missiles were used during the conflict, with one missile hitting the British destroyer and two the merchant aircraft transporter Atlantic Conveyor
. Two missiles were used in each of those attacks.
The fifth missile was launched in an attack intended to strike against the British aircraft carrier but the attacking aircraft failed to find their target.
Once the conflict was over, Super Etendards performed qualifications on aircraft carrier ARA 25 de Mayo until the ship's final retirement From 2001, qualifications are made on Brazilian Navy carrier São Paulo and/or touch-and-go on US Navy carriers during Gringo-Gaucho
maneuvers when they are in transit within Argentine coastal waters.
As of 2010, Argentine Super Étendards are still in service and French cooperation to upgrade the aircraft was announced.
The first operational missions took place in Lebanon
during Operation Olifant. On 22 September 1983, French Navy Super Étendards operating from the aircraft carrier Foch bombed and destroyed Syrian forces positions after a few artillery rounds were fired at the French peace keepers. On 17 November 1983, the same airplanes attacked and destroyed an Islamic Amal training camp in Baalbeck after a terrorist attack on French paratroopers
in Beirut
.
France's Super Étendards were modified to carry the ramjet
powered Air-Sol Moyenne Portée
air-launched nuclear missile. From 1991, the original Étendard IVMs were withdrawn from French service, (although the reconnaissance version of the Étendard IV, the IVP remained in service until July 2000) and the Super Étendards underwent a series of upgrades throughout the 1990s to better suit them to modern warfare. These modifications included a new Thomson-CSF Anemone radar, with nearly twice the range of the previous Agave radar, the ability to carry and target the latest generation of laser-guided bombs and missiles, improved self defence ECM
systems and the ability to carry a reconnaissance pod. These uprated aircraft, designated Super Étendard Modernisé (SEM) participated in NATO's Allied Force
operations over Serbia
in 1999, flying over 400 combat missions with 73% of the assigned objectives destroyed : the best performance of all the air forces involved in the missions over Serbia. The SEM also flew strike missions in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Mission Héraclès
starting 21 November 2001 saw the deployment of the Charles de Gaulle
and its Super Étendard in Afghanistan. Operation Anaconda
, starting on 2 March 2002 saw extensive use of the Super Étendard in support of French and allied ground troops. Super Étendard's returned to operations over Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008. One of their main roles was to carry laser designation
pods
to illuminate targets for Dassault Rafale
s.
In March 2011, Étendards were deployed as a part of Task Force 473, during France's Opération Harmattan
in support of UN resolution 1973 during the Libyan conflict. They were paired again with Dassault Rafales on interdiction missions.
All Super Étendards are expected to be retired from French service by 2015, to be replaced from 2006 onwards with Dassault's Rafale M.
in 1983 while the country waited for deliveries of Agave equipped Dassault Mirage F1
s capable of launching Exocet missiles that had been ordered, arriving in Iraq on 8 October 1983. These aircraft used Exocets with some success against shipping (particularly tankers) sailing to and from Iran
ian ports, 51 attacks in total in the Persian Gulf before being returned to France in 1985. At least two were shot down during the spring and summer of 1984 by Iranian F-14s, while Iran claims to have shot down a third one. Of the two aircraft destroyed one was indeed shot down, the other was only damaged but crashed whilst trying to return to base. Only three aircraft were returned to France.
Dassault Aviation
Dassault Aviation is a French aircraft manufacturer of military, regional and business jets, a subsidiary of Dassault Group.It was founded in 1930 by Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch or "MB". After World War II, Marcel Bloch changed his name to Marcel Dassault, and the name of the...
Super Étendard (Étendard is French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
for "battle flag
War flag
A war flag is a variant of a national flag for use by the nation's military forces on land. The nautical equivalent is a naval ensign — the battle ensign...
") is a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
carrier-borne
Carrier-based aircraft
Carrier-based aircraft are military aircraft designed specifically for operations from aircraft carriers. The term is generally applied only to fixed-wing aircraft, as naval helicopters are able to operate from a wider variety of aviation-capable ships. Carrier-based aircraft must be relatively...
strike fighter
Strike fighter
In a current military parlance, a strike fighter is a multi-role combat aircraft designed to operate primarily in the air-to-surface attack role while also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. As a category, it is distinct from fighter-bombers...
aircraft designed for service with the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
. The aircraft entered service in June 1978 and was first used in combat by Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
during the 1982 Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
.
Design and development
The Super Étendard is a development of the earlier Étendard IVM that was originally to have been replaced by a navalised version of the SEPECAT JaguarSEPECAT Jaguar
The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet ground attack aircraft, originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Armée de l'Air in the close air support and nuclear strike role, and still in service with several export customers, notably the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force...
(the Jaguar M), until this plan was stalled by political problems, together with problems with operating the Jaguar aboard ships, including handling problems when flying on a single engine and poor throttle response that made landing back on a carrier after an engine failure difficult. Instead, Dassault proposed an improved version of the Étendard IVM, with a more powerful engine, a new wing and improved avionics. This proposal was accepted by the French Navy in 1973 as the Super Étendard.
The Super Étendard is a small, single-engined, mid-winged aircraft with an all-metal structure. Both the wings and tailplane
Tailplane
A tailplane, also known as horizontal stabilizer , is a small lifting surface located on the tail behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes...
are swept, with the folding wings having a sweepback of about 45 degrees, while the aircraft is powered by a non-afterburning SNECMA Atar 9K-50
SNECMA Atar
The SNECMA Atar is a French axial-flow turbojet engine built by Snecma. It was derived from the German World War II BMW 003 design, but extensively developed though a progression of more powerful models. The name is derived from its original design group, Atelier Technique Aéronautique Rickenbach...
turbojet with a rating of 49 kN (11,025 lbf). It is fitted with a Thomson-CSF
Thomson-CSF
Thomson-CSF was a major electronics and defence contractor. In December 2000 it was renamed Thales Group.-History:In 1879 Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston formed the Thomson-Houston Electric Company in the United States....
Agave radar, closely integrated with the new air-launched version of Aérospatiale
Aérospatiale
Aérospatiale was a French aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale...
's anti-shipping missile, the AM 39 Exocet
Exocet
The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s.-Etymology:...
, which forms the main anti-ship armament of the aircraft. French Étendards could also carry tactical nuclear weapons.
The first of three prototypes, a IVM modified with the new engine and some of the new avionics, made its maiden flight on 28 October 1974. The French Navy initially ordered 60 of the new model, with options for a further 20, but budget cuts lead to only 71 being purchased in the end, with deliveries starting in June 1978, while the Argentinian Navy ordered a further 14. Production was completed in 1983.
Argentina
The Argentine Naval AviationArgentine Naval Aviation
The Argentine Naval Aviation is the naval aviation branch of the Argentine Navy and one of its four operational commands...
decided to buy 14 Super Étendards in 1980, after the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
put an arms embargo in place—due to the Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
—and refused to supply spare parts for their A-4Q Skyhawks
A-4 Skyhawk
The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a carrier-capable ground-attack aircraft designed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The delta winged, single-engined Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated the A4D...
. Assigned to 2nd Naval Air Fighter/Attack Squadron
2da Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque
The 2da Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque is the main strike unit of the Argentine Naval Aviation, the air branch of the Argentine Navy.-Seal:...
, Argentine pilots used French flight trainers between November 1980 and August 1981 in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, but at the time of the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
, they had received only 45 hours of actual flight time in the aircraft. Between August and November 1981, five Super Étendards and five Exocets were shipped to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. All five of the missiles were used during the conflict, with one missile hitting the British destroyer and two the merchant aircraft transporter Atlantic Conveyor
Atlantic Conveyor
The Atlantic Conveyor was a British merchant navy ship, registered in Liverpool, that was requisitioned during the Falklands War and sunk on 25 May 1982 after being hit by two Argentine Exocet missiles, killing 12 sailors...
. Two missiles were used in each of those attacks.
Once the conflict was over, Super Etendards performed qualifications on aircraft carrier ARA 25 de Mayo until the ship's final retirement From 2001, qualifications are made on Brazilian Navy carrier São Paulo and/or touch-and-go on US Navy carriers during Gringo-Gaucho
Gringo-Gaucho
Gringo-Gaucho are a set of maneuvers performed between the Argentine Naval Aviation and United States Navy's aircraft carriers. The US Navy refers to them as Southern Seas in their last edition.-History:...
maneuvers when they are in transit within Argentine coastal waters.
As of 2010, Argentine Super Étendards are still in service and French cooperation to upgrade the aircraft was announced.
France
Deliveries of the Super Étendard to the French Navy started in 1978, with the first squadron, Flotille 11F becoming operational in February 1979. In total, three operational squadrons and a training unit were equipped with the Super Étendard.The first operational missions took place in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
during Operation Olifant. On 22 September 1983, French Navy Super Étendards operating from the aircraft carrier Foch bombed and destroyed Syrian forces positions after a few artillery rounds were fired at the French peace keepers. On 17 November 1983, the same airplanes attacked and destroyed an Islamic Amal training camp in Baalbeck after a terrorist attack on French paratroopers
1983 Beirut barracks bombing
The Beirut Barracks Bombing occurred during the Lebanese Civil War, when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States and French military forces—members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon—killing 299 American and French servicemen...
in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
.
France's Super Étendards were modified to carry the ramjet
Ramjet
A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a form of airbreathing jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill...
powered Air-Sol Moyenne Portée
Air-Sol Moyenne Portée
The Air-Sol Moyenne Portée is a French air-launched nuclear missile. Part of the Force de frappe, in French nuclear doctrine it is the last-resort "warning shot" prior to a full-scale employment of strategic nuclear weapons...
air-launched nuclear missile. From 1991, the original Étendard IVMs were withdrawn from French service, (although the reconnaissance version of the Étendard IV, the IVP remained in service until July 2000) and the Super Étendards underwent a series of upgrades throughout the 1990s to better suit them to modern warfare. These modifications included a new Thomson-CSF Anemone radar, with nearly twice the range of the previous Agave radar, the ability to carry and target the latest generation of laser-guided bombs and missiles, improved self defence ECM
Electronic countermeasures
An electronic countermeasure is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar or other detection systems, like infrared or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy...
systems and the ability to carry a reconnaissance pod. These uprated aircraft, designated Super Étendard Modernisé (SEM) participated in NATO's Allied Force
1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was NATO's military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999...
operations over Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
in 1999, flying over 400 combat missions with 73% of the assigned objectives destroyed : the best performance of all the air forces involved in the missions over Serbia. The SEM also flew strike missions in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Mission Héraclès
Mission Héraclès
Mission Héraclès was a 2001 operation of the French Navy, in support of the War in Afghanistan against the Taliban.On 21 November 2001, France decided to send the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Indian Ocean in support of Operation Enduring Freedom against Taliban-controlled Afghanistan...
starting 21 November 2001 saw the deployment of the Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle (R 91)
Charles de Gaulle is the flagship of the French Navy and the largest Western European aircraft carrier. She is the tenth French aircraft carrier, the first French nuclear-powered surface vessel, and the first and so far only nuclear-powered carrier completed outside of the United States Navy...
and its Super Étendard in Afghanistan. Operation Anaconda
Operation Anaconda
Operation Anaconda took place in early March 2002 in which the United States military and CIA Paramilitary Officers, working with allied Afghan military forces, and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization and non NATO forces attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the Shahi-Kot...
, starting on 2 March 2002 saw extensive use of the Super Étendard in support of French and allied ground troops. Super Étendard's returned to operations over Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008. One of their main roles was to carry laser designation
Laser designator
A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, Lockheed-Martin's Hellfire, or the Copperhead round, respectively.When a...
pods
Targeting pods
Targeting pods are target designation tools used by ground-attack aircraft for identifying targets and guiding precision guided munitions such as laser-guided bombs to those targets...
to illuminate targets for Dassault Rafale
Dassault Rafale
The Dassault Rafale is a French twin-engine delta-wing multi-role jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Introduced in 2000, the Rafale is being produced both for land-based use with the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations with the French Navy...
s.
In March 2011, Étendards were deployed as a part of Task Force 473, during France's Opération Harmattan
Opération Harmattan
Opération Harmattan is the codename for the French participation in the 2011 military intervention in Libya. It is named for the Harmattan, which are hot dry winds that blow over the Sahara, mostly between November and March. The United States' counterpart to this is Operation Odyssey Dawn, the...
in support of UN resolution 1973 during the Libyan conflict. They were paired again with Dassault Rafales on interdiction missions.
All Super Étendards are expected to be retired from French service by 2015, to be replaced from 2006 onwards with Dassault's Rafale M.
Iraq
Five Super Étendards were loaned to IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 1983 while the country waited for deliveries of Agave equipped Dassault Mirage F1
Dassault Mirage F1
The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French air-superiority fighter and attack aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation as a successor of the Mirage III family. The Mirage F1 entered service in the French Air Force in the early seventies...
s capable of launching Exocet missiles that had been ordered, arriving in Iraq on 8 October 1983. These aircraft used Exocets with some success against shipping (particularly tankers) sailing to and from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian ports, 51 attacks in total in the Persian Gulf before being returned to France in 1985. At least two were shot down during the spring and summer of 1984 by Iranian F-14s, while Iran claims to have shot down a third one. Of the two aircraft destroyed one was indeed shot down, the other was only damaged but crashed whilst trying to return to base. Only three aircraft were returned to France.
Operators
:- Argentine Naval AviationArgentine Naval AviationThe Argentine Naval Aviation is the naval aviation branch of the Argentine Navy and one of its four operational commands...
received 14 aircraft, eleven are still in service.
- Aviation NavaleAviation NavaleFrench Naval Aviation of the French Navy includes 206 aircraft and 6,800 men, both civilians and military personnel. They operate from six airbases, five of them in Metropolitan France and one overseas....
received 71 aircraft, all are to be replaced by the Rafale MDassault RafaleThe Dassault Rafale is a French twin-engine delta-wing multi-role jet fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Introduced in 2000, the Rafale is being produced both for land-based use with the French Air Force and for carrier-based operations with the French Navy...
by 2015.
- Iraqi Air ForceIraqi Air ForceThe Iraqi Air Force or IQAF is the military branch in Iraq responsible for the policing of international borders, surveillance of national assets and aerial operations...
was lent five French aircraft between 1983 and 1985. Only three returned. The other two were lost during the Iran-Iraq warIran-Iraq WarThe Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...
Argentina
- 1 August 1989, 0760 3-A-210. Pilot Lt Carlos Manchinelli died.
- 11 December 1989, 0762 3-A-212. Engine stopped. Pilot Lt Félix Médici ejected safely.
- 29 May 1993, 0754 3-A-203 ( Falklands veteran aircraft ). Pilot Lt Sergio Marquez died.
France
- On 27 May 1982, a Super Étendard crashed off the coast of ToulonToulonToulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
; the pilot was killed. - In September 1986, a Super Étendard crashed into the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
; the pilot ejected. - During the night of 2 April 1987, a Super Étendard disappeared during a training flight north of the Île Vierge lighthouse off the northwestern coast of BrittanyBrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
. Neither the aircraft nor the pilot were found. - In July 1987, a Super Étendard crashed in a forest in Ille-et-VilaineIlle-et-VilaineIlle-et-Vilaine is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country.- History :Ille-et-Vilaine is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
; the pilot ejected. - During the night of 17 July 1988, Super Étendard 54 crashed during a carrier landing on the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau; the pilot was killed.
- On 31 May 1990, a Super Étendard pilot ejected off the coast of HyèresHyèresHyères , Provençal Occitan: Ieras in classical norm or Iero in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France....
. He was rescued by a DauphinAérospatiale DauphinThe Aérospatiale SA 360 Dauphin was a single-engine French utility helicopter developed as a replacement for Aérospatiale's Alouette III and was to be called the "Business Alouette", in the early 1970s and to fill a gap in the company's product line in the six to ten-seat helicopter category...
helicopter from the French Navy's squadron 23S - On 27 March 1994, Super Étendard 5 from the French Navy's flotilla 11F crashed in the Adriatic SeaAdriatic SeaThe Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
; the pilot was rescued from the water by a helicopter from squadron 23S. - On 26 January 1996, a Super Étendard crashed off the coast of La CiotatLa CiotatLa Ciotat is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. It is part of the metropolitan area of Marseille Provence. La ciotat is located to the east of Marseille at an equal distance from Marseille and Toulon...
; the pilot ejected. - On 14 April 2004, Super Étendard Modernisé 35 from the French Navy's flotilla 17F missed a landing on the French aircraft carrier Charles De GaulleCharles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, crashing on the runway; the pilot was unharmed. - On 7 December 2005, Super Étendard Modernisé 45 from the French Navy's flotilla 11F (registered F-XCKA) was lost at sea in the Gulf of Ajaccio after its engine ingested a bird. The pilot ejected and was only mildly injured.
- On 21 March 2006, a bird shattered the canopy of Super Étendard Modernisé 3 from the French Navy's flotilla 11F, over PontorsonPontorsonPontorson is a commune in the Manche department in north-western France.-Geography:Pontorson is situated about 10 kilometres from the Mount, to which it is connected by highway and a walking path along the river Couesnon. The river also gives its name to the town's main street.-History:The town was...
. The pilot made a forced landing in a field in DinardDinardDinard is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in north-western France.Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a popular holiday destination, and this has resulted in the town having a variety of famous visitors and residents...
. - On August 24, 2006, around 18:30 (local time), Super Étendard Modernisé 43 from the French Navy's flotilla 11F landed hard at BAN Landivisiau and was damaged; there were no injuries.
- On 21 March 2008, a Super Étendard Modernisé from the French Navy's flotilla 17F was lost at sea south of Cavalaire-sur-MerCavalaire-sur-MerCavalaire-sur-Mer is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-History:During World War II, on August 16, 1944, it was one of the sites of a beach landing in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern FranceCavalaire-sur-Mer is probably...
during a training flight. The pilot ejected safely. - On 1 October 2008, at 17:10 (local time), two Super Étendards Modernisés (numbers 38 and 49) from the French Navy's flotilla 11F collided over the bay of LannionLannionLannion is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a subpréfecture of Côtes-d'Armor, the capital of Trégor and the center of an urban area of almost 60,000 inhabitants.-Population:...
, about north of MorlaixMorlaixMorlaix is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Leisure and tourism:...
. They were conducting a training flight originating from BAN Landivisiau. Both pilots ejected, but only one was rescued alive. The minesweeper Lyre (M648) was not able to locate the wreckage in over of water, and the rescue attempts for the second downed pilot ( Sébastien Lhéritier) were called off the next day at noon. On October 17, wreckage and the missing pilot's body were found north of Île de BatzÎle de BatzThe Île de Batz is an island off Roscoff in Brittany, France. Administratively, it is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-Population:...
with the assistance of robotic submersibles.
Specifications