Bréguet 960 Vultur


The Bréguet Br.960 Vultur was a French prototype carrier-based attack aircraft that first flew on 3 August 1951. Only two examples were built, but the work done on them later proved useful in the development of the Bréguet 1050 Alizé anti-submarine warfare aircraft.

Design and development

The Vultur was a mixed-power design, combining an Armstrong Siddeley Mamba turboprop in the nose with a Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet in the tail. It was a low-wing aircraft, with the wing featuring a swept leading edge and a straight trailing edge, folding at the middle. The aircraft had tricycle landing gear, with the main gear hinged in the wings just inside the wing fold and retracting towards the fuselage, the nose gear retracting backwards.
The Vultur accommodated a pilot and copilot sitting side by side in a framed canopy. A typical payload was a single 1,000 kg bomb and eight rockets. It was fitted with radar in a pod on the right wingtip, balanced by a fuel tank on the left wingtip. A large search radar could also be attached under the fuselage.
When the Aéronavale lost interest in a turboprop attack aircraft, but was keen to purchase a new anti-submarine warfare platform, Bréguet modified the second prototype as a demonstrator. Now known as the Bréguet Br.965 Épaulard, this aircraft was the immediate forerunner of the Bréguet Alizé.

Specifications (Br.960, second prototype)