Bréguet 960 Vultur

Bréguet · France · first flew 1951 · bomber

The Bréguet Br 960 Vultur was a prototype two-seat carrier-based attack and anti-submarine aircraft built for the French Navy in the early 1950s. It had a turboprop in the nose and a turbojet in the rear.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, swept
E — Engines	2 × turboprop, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	Mixed-power layout: a turboprop in the nose and a turbojet in the rear fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Mixed-power layout: a turboprop in the nose and a turbojet in the rear fuselage
Low wing with a swept leading edge and a straight trailing edge, folding vertically
Swept tailplane with 16 degrees of dihedral

A pilot and copilot sit side by side in a framed canopy, with a single hardpoint under the fuselage and four rocket launchers under the wings.

Specifications

The Bréguet 960 Vultur has a length of 13.35 m (44 ft).
It has a wingspan of 16.7 m (55 ft).
Its maximum speed is 900 km/h (559 mph).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

In November 1947 the Aéronavale issued a specification for a carrier attack and anti-submarine aircraft that needed speeds between 300 and 700 km/h. Bréguet met the contradictory requirements with an Armstrong Siddeley Mamba turboprop and a Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet. The first prototype flew on 4 August 1951.

Variants

The second prototype, which first flew on 15 September 1952, had a more powerful Mamba III and Nene, and wingtip nacelles for a fuel tank and an attack radar. It was later rebuilt as the prototype of the Bréguet 1050 Alizé.

Where you'll see it

Only two were built. The first prototype proved very underpowered, and the Navy dropped the idea of a turboprop attack aircraft in the mid-1950s.

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