Dassault Mystère IV

The Dassault Mystère ("Secret") was a single engine French fighter aircraft from the Cold War. The M.D.452 Mystère IV A was the first aircraft by Dassault with swept wings.

Development

Mystere IVA

Immediately after design work for the Dassault MD 450 Ouragan was completed, plans were made for a new fighter with even better performance, which would be only possible with the use of swept wings. The first flight of the prototype, designated Mystère I - basically an Ouragan with a new wing swept at 30 degrees took place on 23rd February 1951. This led to the Mystère IV, powered by the same 6,238 lb st (2,850 kg st) Hispano-Suiza Tay 250A as the mystere II, with the first prototype making it's initial flight on 28 September 1952, The following April, an offshore procurement contract for 255 Mystère IVA aircraft was placed as part of US support for NATO nations, wich was subsequently supplemented by a French Government contract for an additional 100 aircraft. The first series example of the Mystere IVA made it's initial flight on 28 May 1954. Following completion of the initial batch of 50 aircraft, the Tay 250A was replaced on the production line by the 7,716 lb st (3,500 kg st) Hispano Suiza Verdon 350.

The type entered service in the year 1955, with about 480 aircraft built. They were operational until the 1980s and were also used as a trainer aircraft by the Demonstration squadron Patrouille de France.

Just like its predecessor, the Ouragan, the Mystère was exported to India (110 new built examples delivered from 1957) and Israel (60 ex-French examples delivered from April 1956).

Mystere IVB

Aerodynamic development of the basic design led to the Mystere IVB, which featured the wings, horizontal tail and undercarriage of the IVA fitted to a new fuselage of increased finesse ratio. Originally designed for the SNECMA Atar 101G afterburning engine, the first prototype made it's initial flight on 18 June 1954, using a Rolls-Royce Avon RA 7R.