A state yardstick

The Arsenal was created as a benchmark. In 1934 French politicians worried that their aircraft industry was falling behind Britain, Italy and Germany, and the socialist deputy Pierre Renaudel proposed a state establishment that could design modern equipment and, not least, show the government what aircraft really cost. The Arsenal du matériel aérien was set up at the end of 1934 under engineer Marius Vernisse and, renamed Arsenal de l’aéronautique in 1936, moved into new hangars at Villacoublay.

The fighter that came too late

Its masterpiece was a wooden fighter. The VG-33, named for Vernisse and designer Jean Galtier, first flew on 25 April 1939 and reached about 560 km/h; orders rose from 220 to 1,000. But engines were lacking, and by the armistice only about 40 had been completed and 19 delivered. Just two ever flew with an active unit, four days before the fighting stopped. After the war the twin-engined, contra-rotating VB 10 was ordered in 200 examples, only for the order to be cancelled in 1948 after four deliveries.

Missiles and a delta

The Arsenal’s second life was in missiles. Privatised in 1947 and staffed partly by German engineers, it worked on delta-wing research that led to the Nord Gerfaut, and on wire-guided weapons. Its Ars 5201 became the SS.10 anti-tank missile, followed by the AS.10 and SS.11. Renamed SFECMAS at the end of 1952, it was absorbed by SNCAN in December 1954, the merger that produced Nord Aviation, which went on to build some 180,000 SS.11s.

Factories

• Villacoublay · Vélizy-Villacoublay — Hangars built by Louis Breguet; seized by German forces in 1940
• Châtillon · Châtillon, Hauts-de-Seine — Under Focke-Wulf control from September 1942

People

• Marius Vernisse · head of design office — The V in VG
• Jean Galtier · designer — The G in VG
• Pierre Renaudel · deputy — Proposed the state arsenal in 1934
• Maurice Delanne · designer — Arsenal-Delanne 10 tandem-wing fighter