- Yes
- No
Development history
At the time of the creation of the independent French Air Force, the French government showed great interest in the concept of multipurpose aircraft expressed by the theories of Julius Douai. These fighters had to be able to carry out bombing and long-range reconnaissance missions day and night. The new “3in1” aircraft is faster, carries a large number of bombs, is protected on all sides by numerous positions with defensive machine guns, and should therefore be much cheaper, thus already reducing the strain on the aircraft. has been reduced.
The Air Ministry conducted a competition called the M4 to replace the obsolete bomber LeO 20 and Furman F.60. They were the Bleriot 137, Breguet Bure 410, Furman F.211, SPCA 30 and Amiot 140. This is how the Amiot 140 was adopted. However, in October 1933 the Air Ministry requested a redesign of the Amiot 140, and two prototypes were built. Equipped with two 840 horsepower Norm Rhone 14K (14-cylinder, 2-row) air-cooled radial engines.
The first flight he made was in August 1934. The first ten of his aircraft were equipped with six of his 7.7 mm Lewis machine guns. (1 gun in the nose turret, 2 guns at the bottom of the rear, 2 guns on the back, 1 gun in the abdomen) The ventral machine gun was removed from Unit 11 and replaced with a ventral machine gun. , and from the 31st aircraft the fuselage was extended forward by 30 cm, the upper turret was moved forward by 90 cm, and the machine gun was replaced by three 7.5 mm MAC 12 with 12 magazines.
Participation in actual battle
She entered service in July 1935, and her deliveries lasted until 1938. By the time of its last delivery, it had become obsolete and had been replaced by more modern aircraft such as the Bloch MB.131. At the beginning of World War II, it was deployed in Africa and five major cities.
During the Hoax War, Amiot 143 carried out reconnaissance and flyer raids over Germany.
At the time of the invasion of France, 87 aircraft remained on the front lines, mainly used for night attacks against German airfields and lines of communication, with relatively few losses. It was a daytime raid by ten of his Amiots on a German beachhead near Sedan on May 14, 1940. Despite the presence of fighter escorts, two Amiots were shot down. The third plane crash-landed before returning
to base.
52 were in unoccupied territory and 25 were in French North Africa. Replaced by LeO 451 he was used until July 1941. Some Amiots also served as transport for French troops in Syria. This group later joined the Allies after landing in Africa. The last Amiot 143 was decommissioned in February 1944.
Several Amiot 143s were taken over by the German military and used as transport aircraft. Some of the countries that use it include the Polish Air Force and the Croatian Air Force, which defected to France.
performance
・Total length: 18.24m
・Full width: 24.53m
・Overall height: 5.70m
・Main wing area: 100.0㎡
・Empty weight: 6.0kg
・Weight of all equipment: 6,100kg
Motors: Two 14-cylinder Gnome-Rhône 14 Kirs/Kjrs Mistral-Major engines.
・Maximum speed: 295 km/
・Cruising distance: 1,300km
・Practical altitude limit: 7,500m.
Armed:
・Machine guns: 4 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine guns
・Bomb: 1600 kg of bomb type: 800 kg inside, 800 kg at external anchor point
photograph
source