Jaguar M

Mathll · October 19, 2025, 1:43am

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Hello everyone, and welcome to this new suggestion.

Today, I’m presenting a variant of an iconic French military aircraft that unfortunately never made it past the prototype stage: the Jaguar M.

The Jaguar M is a navalized version of the SEPECAT Jaguar fighter-bomber, developed jointly by Dassault Aviation (France) and British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) (United Kingdom) in the 1960s. This specific version, designated “M” for “Marine”, was designed at the request of the French Navy to be embarked aboard the aircraft carriers Clemenceau and Foch. The first flight of the Jaguar M prototype took place in 1969. It was equipped with several modifications for shipboard operations: reinforced landing gear, a landing hook, adapted air brakes, and a reinforced structure to support catapult launches and landings. Despite a conclusive test campaign, notably on a runway simulating an aircraft carrier deck, the program was finally abandoned in 1973, in favor of the Dassault Super Étendard, considered more suited to the Navy’s needs in terms of versatility and integration of tactical nuclear weapons.

The Jaguar M was never put into operational service in the French Navy. It remained at the prototype stage, although trials demonstrated the technical feasibility of a ship-borne version of the Jaguar. The decision to abandon the program was essentially political and strategic: it was a matter of streamlining arms programs and entrusting Dassault Aviation with responsibility for a 100% French naval aircraft, in this case the Super Étendard, which had the advantage of shared logistics with the Étendard family already in service. The Jaguar M therefore represents an aborted, but interesting project, which demonstrates the desire to provide France with a high-performance two-seater, twin-engine carrier-based fighter. While the Jaguar enjoyed a brilliant career in the Air Force in its land-based version (Jaguar A and E), the Jaguar M remains a little-known episode in the history of French naval aviation, with only one prototype built, preserved today as a collector’s item.

Characteristics

Generally speaking, the Jaguar M is identical to the Jaguar A, however, due to its nature as an airborne aircraft, it has undergone certain modifications in order to make it suitable for the missions entrusted to it.

Length : 15.52 m
Width : 8.69 m
Height : 4.92
Mass :
- Min : 7,000 kg
- Max : 15.700 kg

One of the main differences with its version intended for the Air Force concerns the landing gear, in fact it is raised and reinforced in order to improve the incidence of the aircraft during takeoff and its resistance during landing. The second change concerns the flaps, which are modified to be able to reach greater angles of incidence (up to 45°), which allows the aircraft to descend at a reasonable speed for landing on an aircraft carrier. A real landing gear hook is also installed, the one present on production aircraft not being made for this use. Finally, the aircraft’s tail was slightly enlarged to improve high-angle approaches.

The Jaguar M is powered by the SNECMA Adour Mk804 which allows it to reach a maximum speed of 1,593 km/h and climb up to 14,000 meters above sea level.

Equipment

The Jaguar M is similar in all respects to the Jaguar A, however due to the abandonment of the program before the entry into service of the ALTISS laser designation pod, it did not receive the capability of designating and firing laser-guided munitions. The aircraft is still equipped with the following equipment.

RWR :
The AN-APR25 installed on Jaguar A is available for this aircraft
Decoys :
The aircraft is equipped with the same decoy launcher systems as its Air Force version, so it can be equipped with countermeasure gondolas placed against the reactors. The aircraft, however, never received the Phimat, Barax or Barracuda pods due to its failure to enter service.
Laser Rangefinder :
The TAV-38 is a laser rangefinder located under the nose of the aircraft with a maximum range of 10km allowing the Jaguar to know the distance of its targets