Breguet Alizé

Last updated
Br.1050 Alizé
Alize1270.jpg
Role Anti-submarine aircraft
National originFrance
Manufacturer Breguet Aviation
First flight6 October 1956
Introduction29 May 1959
Retired 2000
Primary users French Navy
Indian Navy
Produced1957-1962
Number built89

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

Carrier-based aircraft military aircraft designed specifically for operations from aircraft carriers

Carrier-based aircraft, sometimes known as carrier-capable aircraft or carrier-borne aircraft, are naval aircraft designed for operations from aircraft carriers. They must be able to launch in a short distance and be sturdy enough to withstand the abrupt forces of launching from and recovering on a pitching deck. In addition, their wings are generally able to fold up, easing operations in tight quarters.

Anti-submarine warfare Branch of naval warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines.

Prototype early sample or model built to test a concept or process

A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to evaluate a new design to enhance precision by system analysts and users. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. In some design workflow models, creating a prototype is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea.

Contents

Design

The Alizé was a low-wing monoplane of conventional configuration powered by a single Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engine. It had a CSF radar system with a retractable antenna dome in its belly. The cockpit accommodated a crew of three, including pilot, radar operator, and sensor operator. The pilot was seated in front on the left, the navigator in front on the right, and the sensor operator sat sideways behind them. The landing gear was of tricycle configuration, with the main gear retracting backwards into nacelles in the wings. The main gear had dual wheels, and the front part of the nacelles accommodated sonobuoys. The Alizé had a yoke-style arresting hook.

Monoplane fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane

A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane, in contrast to a biplane or other multiplane, each of which has multiple planes.

Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop aircraft engine

The Rolls-Royce RB.53 Dart is a long-lived British turboprop engine designed, built and manufactured by Rolls-Royce Limited. First run in 1946, it powered the first Vickers Viscount maiden flight in 1948, and in the Viscount was the first turboprop engine to enter airline service, with British European Airways (BEA), in 1950. On 29 July 1948 a flight between Northolt and Paris–Le Bourget Airport with 14 paying passengers in a Dart-powered Viscount was the first scheduled airline flight by any turbine-powered aircraft.

Turboprop turbine engine which powers an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear

A turboprop engine is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.

The internal weapons bay could accommodate a homing torpedo or depth charges, and underwing stores pylons could carry bombs, depth charges, rockets, or missiles. Typical underwing stores included 68 mm (2.68 in) rocket pods or AS.12 wire-guided antiship missiles.

Torpedo self-propelled underwater weapon

A modern torpedo is a self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with its target or in proximity to it.

Indian carrier INS Vikrant launching an Alize during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war INS Vikrant (R11) launches an Alize aircraft during Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.jpg
Indian carrier INS Vikrant launching an Alize during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war

Operational history

The prototype Alize at the 1957 Paris Air Show wearing Aeronavale markings Breguet BR1050 Alize No.01 LeB 29.05.57 edited-2.jpg
The prototype Alizé at the 1957 Paris Air Show wearing Aéronavale markings
Breguet Br.1050 Alize displayed at the Naval Aviation Museum, India Indian Navy Alize.jpg
Breguet Br.1050 Alizé displayed at the Naval Aviation Museum, India
Breguet Alize at Toulon-Hyeres Airport's Aeronavale hangars, May 2012 Brequet Alize at Hyeres May 2012.JPG
Breguet Alizé at Toulon-Hyères Airport's Aéronavale hangars, May 2012
Last flyworthy Alize at Muret, 2016 AirExpo 2016 - Breguet Alize (2).jpg
Last flyworthy Alizé at Muret, 2016

The prototype Alizé first flew on 6 October 1956. It was exhibited at the Paris Air Show at Paris Le Bourget Airport in May 1957.

Paris Air Show trade fair

The Paris Air Show is the largest aerospace-industry exhibition type Air Show in the world, measured by number of exhibitors and size of exhibit space. In second place is UK's Farnborough, followed by Dubai Air Show or Singapore Airshow. The latest was the 52nd Air Show, held from 19 to 25 June 2017, attended by 3,450 journalists, 142,000 professionals and 180,000 general public visitors. It claims to be the world's calendar-oldest air show. Established in 1909, it has been held every odd year since 1949 at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France.

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 Aéronavale , with initial service delivery in March 1959. The Alizé went into operation on the carriers Arromanches, Clémenceau and 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.

French aircraft carrier <i>Clemenceau</i> (R98) Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier

Clemenceau, often affectionately called le Clem, was the French Navy's sixth aircraft carrier and the lead ship of her class. The carrier served from 1961 to 1997, and was dismantled and recycled in 2009. The carrier was the second French warship to be named after Georges Clemenceau, the first being a Richelieu-class battleship laid down in 1939 but never finished.

Indian Navy maritime warfare branch of Indias military

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy.

The Indian Navy operated the Alizé from shore bases and from the light carrier INS Vikrant. The Alizé was used for reconnaissance and patrol during India's 1961 liberation of Portuguese controlled Goa, and was also used for ASW patrol during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, during which one Alizé was shot down by a Pakistan Air Force F-104 Starfighter. It was also instrumental in taking out many gunboats unopposed during the war. The Alizé dwindled in numbers in the Indian Navy during the 1980s, was relegated to shore-based patrol in 1987. Nevertheless, they were employed that year in support of the Indian Peacekeeping Force's Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka, flying sorties against the LTTE and crippling the merchant ship Progress Light. The type was finally phased out in 1991, replaced in its duties by ASW helicopters.

INS <i>Vikrant</i> (R11) Indias first aircraft carrier

INS Vikrant was a Majestic-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. The ship was laid down as HMS Hercules for the British Royal Navy during World War II, but construction was put on hold when the war ended. India purchased the incomplete carrier in 1957, and construction was completed in 1961. Vikrant was commissioned as the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy and played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Goa State in India

Goa is a state considered to be part of western as well as southern India, within the coastal region known as the Konkan, separated from the Deccan highlands of the state of Karnataka by the Western Ghats. It is bounded by Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the east and south, with the Arabian Sea forming its western coast. It is India's smallest state by area and the fourth-smallest by population. Goa has the highest GDP per capita among all Indian states, two and a half times that of the country. It was ranked the best-placed state by the Eleventh Finance Commission for its infrastructure and ranked on top for the best quality of life in India by the National Commission on Population based on the 12 Indicators.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Military confrontation between India and Pakistan alongside the Bangladesh Liberation War

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the liberation war in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 to the fall of Dacca (Dhaka) on 16 December 1971. The war began with preemptive aerial strikes on 11 Indian air stations, which led to the commencement of hostilities with Pakistan and Indian entry into the war of independence in East Pakistan on the side of Bengali nationalist forces. Lasting just 13 days, it is one of the shortest wars in history.

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 NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia over Kosovo in early 1999, with the aircraft flying off the carrier Foch. The last Alizé was withdrawn from service in 2000 with the retirement of the Foch.

Operators

Flag of France.svg  France
Flag of India.svg  India

Specifications (Bréguet Alizé)

Data from Jane's Civil and Military Upgrades 1994-95 [1]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

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

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

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References

  1. Michell 1994, pp. 57–58.