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The Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard (''Étendard'' is French for "battle flag") is a French carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft designed by Dassault-Breguet for service with the French Navy. The aircraft is an advanced development of the Étendard IVM. The Super Étendard first flew in October 1974 and entered French service in June 1978. French Super Étendards have served in several conflicts such as the Kosovo War, the War in Afghanistan and the military intervention in Libya. The Super Étendard was also operated by Iraq and Argentina, who both deployed the aircraft during wartime. The Super Étendard was used by Iraq to attack oil tankers and merchant shipping in the Persian Gulf during the Iraq-Iran War. Argentina's use of the Super Étendard and the Exocet missile during the 1982 Falklands War led to the aircraft gaining considerable popular recognition. In French service, the Super Étendard is to be replaced by the Dassault Rafale by roughly 2016.〔.〕 ==Development== The Super Étendard is a development of the earlier Étendard IVM which been developed in the 1950s. The Étendard IVM was originally to have been replaced by a navalised version of the SEPECAT Jaguar, designated as the Jaguar M; however the Jaguar M project was stalled by a combination of political problems and issues experienced during trial deployments onboard carriers. Specifically, the Jaguar M had suffered handling problems when being flown on a single engine and a poor throttle response time that made landing back on a carrier after an engine failure difficult.〔Jackson 1992, p. 77.〕 In 1973, all development work on the Jaguar M was formally cancelled by the French government.〔Bowman 2007, p. 26.〕 There were several proposed aircraft to replace the Jaguar M, these included the LTV A-7 Corsair II and the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, Dassault also had its own proposal to meet the requirement.〔.〕 According to Bill Gunston and Peter Gilchrist, Dassault had played a significant role the cancellation of the Jaguar M with the aim of creating a vacancy for their own proposal - the Super Étendard.〔Gunston and Gilchrist 1993, p. 169.〕 The Super Étendard was essentially an improved version of the existing Étendard IVM, outfitted with a more powerful engine, a new wing and improved avionics. Dassault's Super Étendard proposal was accepted by the French Navy in 1973, leading to a series of prototypes being quickly assembled.〔Grolleau 2003, p. 40.〕 The first of three prototypes to be built, an Étendard IVM which had been modified with the new engine and some of the new avionics,〔 made its maiden flight on 28 October 1974.〔Taylor 1982, p. 65.〕〔Polmar 2006, p. 330.〕〔 The original intention of the French Navy was to order a total of 100 Super Étendards, however the order placed was for 60 of the new model with options for a further 20; further budget cuts and an escalation in the aircraft's per unit price eventually led to only 71 Super Étendards being purchased.〔Gunston and Gilchrist 1993, p. 170.〕 Dassault began making deliveries of the type to the French Navy in June 1978.〔〔Friedman 2006, p. 159.〕 In the first year of production, 15 Super Étendards were produced for the French Navy, allowing the formation of the first squadron in 1979. Dassault produced the aircraft at a rough rate of two per month.〔("France's Aerospace Industry – Programme by Programme." ) ''Flight International'', 4 November 1978. p. 1647.〕 The Argentinian Navy placed an order for 14 aircraft to meet their requirements for a capable new fighter that could operate from their sole aircraft carrier.〔 In 1983, all manufacturing activity was completed, the last delivery to the French Navy taking place that year.〔〔Michell 1994, p. 65.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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