On this day, in 1958, the Étendard IV M made its first flight at Melun-Villaroche, piloted by Jean-Marie Saget.
In 1955, the engineering department of aeronautics asked Dassault to redesign the Mystère XXIV (Étendard IV), proposed to the Air Force, to turn it into a ” low-altitude fighter and attack seaborne aircraft”. The seaborne Étendard IV M prototype was a low and middle altitude fighter and attack aircraft, deployable from aircraft-carriers of the Clemenceau class, and fitted with the 4400-kg thrust Snecma Atar 8 jet engine.
Five pre-production aircraft were manufactured. Its performance and external load capacity made the Étendard IV M an excellent attack aircraft, with a secondary role as an interceptor and aerial combat aircraft, in accordance with the Navy’s specifications.
Between December 9, 1961 and May 26, 1965, the Navy received 69 Étendard IV M. For the first time of its history, it reached transonic speeds. Étendard IV M remained in active service in the Navy until July 1991, in a ship-borne fighter school, the Squadron 59 S of Hyères, which they had entered in October 1965. They carried out in all 180 000 hours of flight and 25 300 landings.