Dassault Etendard & Super Etendard

Dassault developed the Etendard to meet a NATO requirement for a light strike fighter. Losing out to the Fiat G91 Dassault developed the design into the Etendard IV with the Atar turbojet. The IV gained an order from the French navy to fill the attack and reconnaisance roles.
As suggested by its name the Super Etendard was developed from the earlier Etendard IV. The requirement for an Etendard replacement was to originally be met by a navalised development of the SEPECAT Jaguar. This failed to eventuate and the French navy eventually settled on Dassaults proposal for the Super Etendard. The new design featured the more powerful Atar 8K-50 turbojet, stronger structure and somewhat revised layout to allow operations at higher speeds and weights. New systems included an Agave radar, inertial navigation system, improved avionics and a retractable refuelling probe. Since entering service in 1978 the Super Etendards have been the primary strike aircraft of French naval aviation but with the coming of the Rafale M they will be phased out of service.

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