| Dassault Etendard IVM
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| Description
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| Role | Carrier-borne strike fighter
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| Crew | One, pilot
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| First Flight | May 21 1958
|
| In Service | January 18 1962
|
| Manufacturer | Dassault
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| Dimensions
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| Length | 14.40 m | 47 ft 3 in
|
| Wingspan | 9.60 m | 31 ft 6 in
|
| Height | 3.79 m | 12 ft 6 in
|
| Wing area | 29 m² | 312 ft²
|
| Weights
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| Empty | 5,900 kg | 13,000 lb
|
| Loaded | 8,170 kg | 17,974 lb
|
| Maximum takeoff | 10,200 kg | 22,485 lb
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| Powerplant
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| Engines | 1x SNECMA Atar 8B
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| Thrust | 43.16 kN | 9,700 lb
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| Performance
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| Maximum speed | 1,099 km/h | 683 mph
|
| Ferry Range | 3,300 km | 2,062 miles
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| Service ceiling | 15,500 m | 50,850 ft
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| Rate of climb | 6,000 m/min | 19,685 ft/min
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| Wing loading | 282kg/m² | 57 lb/ft²
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| Thrust/Weight | 5.28 N/kg | 1.85 lbf/lb
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| Avionics
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| Avionics |
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| Armament
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| Guns | 2x 30 mm cannons
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| Stores | 1,360 kg (3,000 lb)
of bombs and rockets
|
The Dassault Etendard IV was a French carrier-borne "strike" fighter in service with the French Navy.
The Etendard's history begins with two design requirements in the early 1950s. One was for a light jet fighter for the French Air Force, the other for a light fighter to serve as standard equipment with NATO air forces. Dassault used variations of the same basic design to produce prototypes for both these specifications, designated the Etendard II and Etendard VI respectively, neither of which led to any orders. At the same time, the company evolved a larger and more powerful variant (originally designated Mystère XXIV) as a private venture.
Able to generate interest from the Navy, Dassault built a prototype navalised version, first demonstrated to the service in 1958 and which resulted in an order for 69 fighter aircraft, designated Etendard IVM and 21 reconnaissance versions designated Etendard IVP. From 1962, these began to be deployed aboard the new French aircraft carriers FS Foch and FS Clemenceau.
Performance of the Etendard IV was never spectacular, and in the 1970s it was clear that a replacement should be sought. For some time, this was hoped to be a navalised version of the SEPECAT Jaguar, the Jaguar M, but as the various political problems of the joint Anglo-French effort dragged out development, Dassault stepped in with an uprated version of the Etendard, dubbed Super Etendard. The last of the original Etendard IVMs were withdrawn in 1991, although a handful of IVPs remain operational in 2004.
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