DINFIA/FMA/Morane Saulnier 760 "Paris" - A bit more than a trainer..

OsO73 · September 8, 2023, 10:34pm

Would you like to see this aircraft in game?

Yes
No

0 voters

Where should it be placed?

French Tech Tree
German Tech Tree
Future Argentine Tech Tree
Other
I answered “No” on the first question.

0 voters

Today I would like to suggest the Morane Saulnier 760, this aircraft mostly served unarmed under most of its users , as it was envisioned as a liaison and training aircraft, but on Argentine service it was used for many roles, one of them was as an attacker, for this it was equipped with machine gun, and supports for rockets, bombs and even Napalm, despite being replaced in almost all roles, this little aircraft remained in service for almost 50 years, making it one of the longest serving aircraft on the FAA.

A Brief History:

The Morane Saulnier 760 (also known by the nickname “Paris”) was a jet powered liaison/executive aircraft developed by the French company Morane Saulnier on the basis of the of MS.755, this being a 2 seat twin engine trainer that had lost a trainer contract to the French Air Force against the Fouga Magister. The 760 took to the skies the 29th of June 1954, its design was an elongated version of the 755, incorporating 2 more seats and wingtip fuel tanks, with the arrival of French orders for the 760 (from both navy and Air force) there were also orders from Argentina and Brazil, with Brazil ordering for training, liaison and and photography, the Brazilian examples stayed in service until 1972.

Pictured the prototype of the Paris

In 1957 the prototype of the MS.760 arrived at Buenos Aires, the small twin jet was shown and demonstrated to the Argentine authorities who flew on it and were impressed by its characteristics. The Argentine government managed to get a contract with Morane for 48 units, the first 12 of them were from French origin and assembled in Argentina, while the remaining ones were going to be built by DINFIA (Direccion Nacional de Fabricaciones e Investigaciones Aeronauticas/ Nacional Directive of investigations and aircraft manufacture), that way FMA became the first Latin American factory to produce Jet aircraft in series.

Pictured the Production line of MS-760 in Argentina

The aircraft was a low wing, twin engine, T tail jet, it had a tricycle landing gear and it was powered by 2 Turbomeca Marbore II, both in the lower part of the fuselage. The Argentine examples got to carry armament, as they were used in the attacker role, they carried 2 twin machine gun pods in the wings and also 2 more pylons to carry bombs rockets or napalm containers. The first example to arrive Argentina did so in 1958 under the serial A-XXX (the A was used on the attacker aircraft), while the first Argentine made one did exited FMA in 1961 under the serial E-213 (E stands for “entrenador”/“Trainer”), production of this aircraft ended in 1963 with the last example (E-248) being given to the FAA. During the 70s this aircraft received the more powerful Turbomeca Marbore IVJ and their machine guns are moved to the nose compartment.

A serial production MS-460 being shown at an expo

Their service in Argentina started with liaison aircraft in the VII Brigade with the 7th Tactic group, by 1961 the first Morane arrive to the EAM (Escuela de Aviacion Militar/Military Aviation School) where it served as the advanced trainer for new pilots who started with B-45 Mentors then T-28A Trojans and lastly the Moranes. By 1963 the 2nd and 3rd fighters group are equipped with this aircraft, where they were used to tow targets and also for light attack missions, for this they used rockets, bombs and machine guns, the aircraft will see its first combat action when a pair of them attacked a rebel radio station during a revolt in 1963. Later in 1969 the Aircraft will form an acrobatic squadron under the name “Condor”.

A trio of MS-460s dropping Napalm canisters during a demonstration

The Morane was deployed for action again in 1978 amidst the rising tensions with neighboring Chile, the squadrons were be deployed in a large exercise known as “Poder de Fuego” (Or in English “Firepower”) to demonstrate the capabilities of all the aircraft in the FAA. As the tensions laid low, the aircraft were returned to their Brigades, this didn’t last long, since in 1982 with the conflict over the Malvinas islands the Moranes were called again. This time they were used for exploration, reconnaissance, patrolling, identification of Ships close to the Argentine coast and support of troops on the mainland, for this the Moranes were equipped with their respective machine guns, rocket pods and bombs if they were to encounter enemy presence.

An MS-760 being prepared for takeoff while under some camouflage netting

By 1986 the Moranes from the Aviation school were replaced with Embraer Tucanos, with the remaining examples being taken to the 1st fighter-Bomber group from the IV Brigade, from that point on they continued serving for training, target towing, attack practices and acrobatic flight until their retirement in 2007. The moraines of the Argentine Air Force flew a total of 349062hs during their 47 years of operation.

Pictured next to an IA-63 Pampa trainer

Specifications:

Spoiler

Crew: 2/4
Length: 10.22 m
Wingspan: 10.15 m
Height: 2.6 m
Wing Surface: 18 m²
Empty weight: 1945 kg
Max takeoff weight: 3500 kg
Engines: 2× Turbomeca Marbore II (later to be replaced with Marbore IVJ, 480kg of thrust each)
Power: 3.9 kN (Marbore II), 4.6 kN
Max speed: 650 km/h at sea level
Cruise speed: 550 km/h
Service ceiling: 11000m
Climb-rate: 11.50 m/s

Armament:

Spoiler

In terms of armament, the MS-760 is pretty well equipped for a light trainer:

x4 or x2 Forward facing Machine guns (x4 in pod configuration, x2 in the later modification in the nose)
T-10 or 57mm Aspid rockets
50, 115 or 125kg bombs
Napalm in various canisters

Images:

Spoiler