MD.410 Spirale

Mathll · July 11, 2026, 9:41pm

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Hello everyone, and welcome to this new suggestion.

Today, I am presenting a new aircraft used by the French Air Force during the Algerian War: the Dassault MD 410 Spirale. This aircraft had previously been suggested on the original version of the forum, but unfortunately, that post was not preserved.

In the early 1950s, the outbreak of the Algerian War highlighted the French Air Force’s need for a modern counter-insurgency aircraft capable of providing close air support while operating from short and improvised airstrips. In response, the French Air Force issued a requirement in 1954 for a twin-engine turboprop aircraft weighing less than five tonnes, capable of carrying heavy armament,including 30 mm cannons, bombs, rockets, and air-to-ground weapons, while retaining excellent range and short take-off and landing (STOL) performance.

Dassault answered this requirement by developing two aircraft from the same basic airframe. The MD.415 Communauté was intended primarily as a liaison and utility aircraft with a secondary attack capability, while the MD.410 Spirale was designed specifically as a dedicated ground-attack aircraft with liaison duties as a secondary role. In 1959, recognizing that both Dassault and Sud-Aviation were independently developing aircraft for the same requirement, the two companies agreed to cooperate in order to reduce development costs and improve the chances of securing a production contract. The Spirale retained approximately 90% commonality with the Communauté, sharing its wing and Turboméca Bastan engines while adopting a much narrower fuselage better suited for observation and close-support missions. In addition to its attack role, the aircraft was also envisioned as a support platform capable of transporting maintenance personnel and equipment for France’s experimental vertical take-off Mirage programs.

The prototype was completed in early 1960 and performed its maiden flight on 8 April 1960 at Bordeaux-Mérignac, piloted by Paul Boudier and Gilles Brecq. Flight testing demonstrated the aircraft’s excellent STOL characteristics and confirmed the viability of the concept. Unfortunately, events outside the program largely sealed its fate. Faced with the urgent operational demands of the Algerian War, the French Air Force decided to procure surplus American AD-4 Skyraiders and T-28 aircraft rather than wait for domestic projects to mature, effectively ending any prospect of production for the original MD.410.

Rather than abandoning the concept entirely, Dassault and Sud-Aviation proposed an enlarged and more versatile successor known as the Spirale III. This redesigned aircraft would have served as a light military transport with STOL capabilities while retaining the ability to perform armed cooperation and support missions. The project attracted enough interest that, in January 1962, the French procurement committee selected the Spirale III for further development and ordered two prototypes. However, only a few months later, budget constraints led to the cancellation of the contract despite expressions of interest from several foreign countries, including Italy, Australia, and South Africa. With the Algerian War coming to an end, the operational requirement that had originally justified the program had largely disappeared, bringing the entire Spirale family to an end before any production aircraft could be built.

Although only a single prototype of the MD.410 Spirale was ever completed, the aircraft remains an interesting chapter in Dassault’s history. It represents one of the company’s earliest attempts to develop a dedicated turboprop counter-insurgency aircraft and illustrates the evolution of French military aviation during the final years of the colonial conflicts. Had it entered production, the Spirale would likely have become one of the French Air Force’s primary close-support aircraft throughout the 1960s.

Characteristics

Length : 13.00 m

Width : 16.40 m

Mass :

Empty : 3.9 tons
Full : 6.3 tons

The aircraft is powered by two 1,000 hp Baltan turboprop engines, enabling it to reach a speed of 530 km/h at an altitude of 3,000 meters.

It is worth noting that the aircraft is armored and features several reinforcement plates, thereby protecting the crew members from blasts and small-arms fire.

The crew consists of three personnel: a pilot, a weapon systems officer, and a radio operator.

Equipment

The aircraft does not feature particularly advanced equipment; however, it is fitted with an SPOM.83 sight, allowing the pilot to aim shots with reasonable accuracy and a guidance systems for SS11 and SS12 missiles located in the nose.

Weapons

The aircraft features a highly developed armament suite, including two internal 30mm DEFA cannons and a secondary armament array mounted on six hardpoints (three per wing). Each hardpoint can carry a load of up to 1,000 lbs.

Internal:

2 x 30mm DEFA cannons (200 rounds per gun)

External:

2 x 1,000 lb bombs
4 x 500 lb bombs
24 x 50 kg bombs
2 x 450 L napalm tanks
6 x 37mm rocket pods (36 rockets per pod)
6 x 68mm rocket pods (7 rockets per pod)
24 x T10 rockets
16 x 5-inch rockets

Additionally, the aircraft was tested and certified to carry and fire AS-11 and AS-12 missiles, with a maximum capacity of four missiles.

In-game, this aircraft would be a particularly interesting addition to the French tree, providing a ground-attack aircraft with capable armament that can engage all types of targets.

Pictures

Sources

MD 410 Spirale : origines, caractéristiques et performances

Dassault brochure