On 1 August 1957, a swept-wing twin-jet in French Air Force markings touched down in Israel after a secret ferry flight routed through French bases in Tunisia. Nobody announced it. A year later, at an air display in August 1958, the Israeli public finally saw what had arrived: the Sud Aviation Vautour, France’s big, versatile vautour, or vulture.

It is one of the forgotten jets of the 1950s. In France it was a bomber, an all-weather night fighter and a reconnaissance platform that never fired a shot in anger. In Israel it became a long-range strike jet that fought in the Six-Day War and the War of Attrition, and even shot down a Hawker Hunter.

One airframe, three very different careers. Here is how the SNCASO S.O. 4050 Vautour went from a French multi-role gamble to one of the most important weapons in the young Israeli Air Force.

One airframe, three jobs

In June 1951, the Armée de l’Air asked for a single jet that could work as a bomber, a low-level attack aircraft and an all-weather interceptor. It was a tall order for an industry still rebuilding after the German occupation. SNCASO answered by shrinking and reworking its experimental S.O. 4000 bomber design into a new twin-jet, the S.O. 4050.

The first prototype, a two-seat all-weather fighter, flew on 16 October 1952. During early testing a prototype went supersonic in a shallow dive, an eye-catching result for a jet of its size. The single-seat attack prototype followed in December 1953, and the two-seat bomber prototype flew on 5 December 1954.

The layout was distinctive. A shoulder-mounted 35-degree swept wing carried two SNECMA Atar turbojets in pods underneath. The landing gear was of the bicycle type, with main wheels in tandem under the fuselage and small outrigger wheels in the engine nacelles. That left the belly free for a large internal weapons bay.

Production came in three variants with a high degree of commonality. The Vautour IIA was a single-seat attack aircraft with cannon and bombs. The IIB was a two-seat bomber with a glazed nose for the navigator-bombardier. The IIN was a two-seat all-weather fighter with radar in the nose, the night fighter of the family.

France’s stop-gap bomber

The French Air Force had planned on hundreds of Vautours, but the order shrank sharply. In the end it took 112 aircraft, and it did not want the single-seat IIA at all, using a few for training and offering the rest for export. The IIN equipped the all-weather fighter squadrons of the 30e Escadre, while the IIB bomber flew with the 92e Escadre de Bombardement.

The bomber version had real limits. It lacked radar and the advanced navigation and attack systems of its contemporaries, which tied it to clear-weather daylight missions, a serious handicap over Europe. As an interceptor it was soon overtaken by the Mirage III.

For a short time the Vautour IIB served as a stop-gap carrier for France’s first nuclear weapons, but the strategic role soon passed to the much faster Dassault Mirage IV. Many IIBs were turned into reconnaissance aircraft. The last French Vautours left frontline service at the end of the 1970s, with a handful kept on for trials and target towing.

Archive footage of a French Vautour IIB during a naval exercise off Corsica in 1963.

The vulture moves east

Israel saw the Vautour very differently. In early 1957 the Israeli Air Force chose it to replace its ageing de Havilland Mosquitos in the long-range attack role, and as an answer to the Soviet-built Ilyushin Il-28 bombers that Egypt had acquired. France and Israel were working closely together on defence at the time.

Around 30 Vautours went to Israel, most of them the single-seat IIAs France did not need, plus a small number of IIB bombers and IIN night fighters. Two squadrons flew them: 110 Squadron at Ramat David with the attack and bomber versions, and 119 Squadron at Tel Nof with the IIN.

The reason was reach. The deliveries arrived quietly, one or two aircraft a month, and gave Israel its first jet able to strike most targets in Egypt. In Israeli service a Vautour typically carried 30 mm cannon, up to 3,000 kg of bombs in its internal bay and underwing rocket pods, a heavy punch for a jet that had started life as a French compromise.

Israeli skies suited the jet. Clear weather and daylight operations meant the lack of advanced navigation equipment hurt far less than it did in Europe. The IIN night fighters later moved into attack, reconnaissance and electronic warfare roles, and in the last role they were used to jam Egyptian air defences.

Six days in June

The Vautour’s combat career began as early as 1959 and peaked in June 1967. During the Six-Day War, Israeli Vautours struck air bases across the region, including raids deep into western Iraq against the H-3 airfield.

Over H-3 the bombers met Iraqi Hawker Hunters. On 6 June 1967, according to Wikipedia’s account, Captain Ben-Zion Zohar shot one down, the only air-to-air victory ever credited to a Vautour. The Hunters had their revenge: two Vautours were brought down by Hunter cannon fire.

Archive footage of Israeli Air Force Vautours, the long-range strike jets of 110 and 119 Squadrons.

Losses mounted over the years of fighting that followed, and newer American types were arriving. The A-4 Skyhawk und die F-4 Phantom took over the Vautour’s roles, and Israel retired the type in early 1972.

Where to see one today

Total production came to 149 aircraft, including three prototypes and six pre-production machines. Survivors are scattered across France, with examples at Montélimar, the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace collection, Châteaudun, Toulouse and the Rozanoff museum at Mont-de-Marsan.

Three former Israeli Vautours, one of each variant, are on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum at Hatzerim. Among them is IIB number 33, nicknamed “Big Brother”.

A French Vautour IIN filmed over French Polynesia, far from the European skies the type was designed for.

The Vautour never got the engines or the avionics it deserved, and in France it lived in the shadow of the Mirage. But for fifteen years in the Middle East, the French vulture was the long arm of the Israeli Air Force. Not bad for a stop-gap.

Sources: Wikipedia (Sud Aviation Vautour; SNCASO SO-4050 Vautour, French edition), Jewish Virtual Library (IAF Aircraft Inventory: Sud-Ouest S.O. 4050 Vautour), Wikimedia Commons