Dassault Mystère IV

The Dassault MD.454 Mystère IV is a 1950s French fighter-bomber aircraft, the first transonic aircraft to enter service with the French Air Force. It was used in large-scale combat in the Israeli Air Force during the 1967 Six Day War.

Design and development The Mystère IV was an evolutionary development of the Mystère II aircraft. Although bearing an external resemblance to the earlier aircraft, the Mystère IV was in fact a new design with aerodynamic improvements for supersonic flight. The prototype first flew on 28 September 1952, and the aircraft entered service in April 1953. The first 50 Mystere IV A production aircraft were powered by British Rolls-Royce Tay turbojets, while the remainder had the French-built Hispano-Suiza Verdon 350 version of that engine.

Operational history

Israeli Mystère IVs saw action during the Arab–Israeli wars and were joined by the French Mystères for the Suez Crisis.

France France was the main operator of the Mystère IV and at the peak usage operated 6 squadrons. Most of the aircraft were purchased under a United States Offshore Procurement contract and many were returned to US custody after they were retired. In April 1953 the United States government and the United States Air Force placed an order for 223 aircraft to be operated by the French.

The new Mystère IVs were used in the 1956 Suez Crisis and continued in use into the 1980s.

Israel The Mystère IV became Israel's first swept-wing fighter when an order for Mystère IIs was changed to 24 Mystère IVs in 1955, which were delivered from April to June 1956, equipping 101 Squadron. A further 36 were delivered in August 1956, with a final aircraft, equipped for reconnaissance duties, delivered in September 1956.Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, pp. 15–16.

On 29 October 1956, when Israel attacked Egypt in the opening move of what became known as the Suez Crisis, invading the Sinai Peninsula, the Mystères of 101 Squadron were deployed on both air-to-air and ground attack missions.Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, pp. 17–18. On 30 October the Mystère IV got its first kill when eight aircraft fought 16 Egyptian Air Force MiG-15s. The Mystères shot down one MiG while a second MiG and one of the Mystères were damaged. On the next day, two Mystères engaged claimed four Egyptian De Havilland Vampires shot down, with another MiG-15 and a MiG-17 claimed later that day.Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 18. Israeli Mystères flew a total of 147 sorties during the war, for the loss of a single aircraft, shot down by ground fire on 2 November.Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 19.

A second squadron, 109 Squadron was equipped with the Mystère IV in December 1956, while 101 Squadron passed its Mystères to 116 Squadron in November 1961.Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 20. Israel planned to replace the Mystère IV with the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, but 109 and 116 Squadron still operated the French fighter on the outbreak of the Six-Day War. The Mystère was used as a ground attack aircraft during the war, flying 610 sorties, claiming three Arab aircraft (two MiG-17s and a Jordanian Hawker Hunter) shot down for the loss of seven Mystères, five to ground fire and two by enemy fighters (one by an Egyptian MiG-21 and one by a Jordanian Hunter flown by PAF pilot Saiful Azam).Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, pp. 21–23.

The Mystère was finally retired from Israeli service on 18 March 1971.Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 23.

India Following Operation Polo, the Indian Air Force felt the need to procure more aircraft to replace the then rapidly ageing propeller planes such as the Supermarine Spitfires that were the mainstay of the force. Following an evaluation of American and French designs, an Airforce committee led by Group captain P.C Lal procured 110 aircraft in 1957 and used them extensively in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

Equipping 5 squadrons of the Indian Air Force, Mystère IVs were employed as a ground attack aircraft during the 1965 war. The type, often accompanied by Folland Gnats providing air cover, was used extensively to provide close air support against enemy armour and artillery positions. Additionally, Mystères carried out a number of bombing missions against the Pakistani airfields, most notably on 7 September, when 3 waves of Mystères from the No.1 and No. 8 squadrons attacked Pakistan Air Force Base Sargodha (along with abandoned airfields at Bhagatanwala and Chhota Sargodha). The Indian Air Force claimed to have destroyed 6 Pakistani aircraft on the ground, including 4 F-86 Sabres and 2 F-104 Starfighters, although Pakistan only admitted to the loss of a single F-86 on the ground. While egressing as part of first wave, Squadron Leader Ajjamada B Devayya of the No. 1 squadron was shot down and killed by an F-104 Starfighter flown by Flight Lieutenant Amjad Hussain. The F-104 also subsequently crashed, having either been shot down by Devayya or having been damaged while flying through the debris of the Mystère, although its pilot ejected safely. Squadron Leader Devayya was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra in 1988.

In the only other air-to-air victory for the Mystère, Wing Commander Surapati Bhattacharya would succeed in shooting down a Pakistan Army L-19 Bird Dog over Chawinda on 16 September.

Pakistan would claim a total of 18 Mystères destroyed during this conflict, including 3 shot down in air-to-air combat, 6 shot down by anti-aircraft fire, and 9 destroyed on the ground during strikes on Indian airfields at Adampur and Pathankot. India admitted to losing only 15 Mystères during combat, attributing 3 further losses to accidents and other causes.

Despite equipping only two squadrons of the IAF during the 1971 India-Pakistan War, viz. No. 3 and No. 31 squadrons, Mystères would still see extensive service as ground attack aircraft on the western front. A total of 3 Mystères would be lost to Pakistani anti-aircraft fire in this conflict, with a further 2 being lost to accidents. The Mystère was retired from the Indian Air Force in 1974.

Variants Mystère IV Prototype powered by a Rolls-Royce Tay 250 engine

Mystère IV A

Production fighter-bomber, 421 built, first 50 with the Rolls-Royce Tay 250 the remaining 371 with a French derivative of the Tay, the Hispano-Suiza Verdon.

Mystère IV B In addition to production Mystère IV A, Dassault developed an upgraded Mystère IV B with either Rolls-Royce Avon (first two prototypes) or SNECMA Atar 101 (third prototype) afterburning engine and a radar ranging gunsight. Six pre-production aircraft were built but the project was abandoned in favour of the promising Super Mystère. In 1954, French pilot Constantin Rozanoff was killed while doing a low-level flyover of this aircraft.

Mystère IV N Dassault also proposed a two-seat all-weather interceptor version called Mystère IV N. The aircraft was equipped with the AN/APG-33 radar in an arrangement similar to North American F-86D Sabre Dog, powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet, and armed with 55× 68 mm Matra rockets in a retractable belly tray. The first prototype flew on 19 July 1954. AdA eventually decided to purchase Sud Aviation Vautour and F-86K Sabre for the interceptor role but the Mystère IV N prototype continued to fly for several years as a testbed for radar equipment.

Operators

French Air Force, 241 delivered

Indian Air Force, 110 delivered

Israeli Air Force, 61 delivered.Aloni Air Enthusiast March/April 2005, p. 16.

Aircraft on display

Israel 60 – Dassault Mystère at the Israeli Air Force Museum.

United Kingdom 70 – Dassault Mystère at the Midland Air Museum in Coventry. 79 – Dassault Mystère at the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum in Flixton. 83 – Dassault Mystère at the Newark Air Museum in Winthorpe, Nottinghamshire. 121 – Dassault Mystère at the City of Norwich Aviation Museum in Horsham St Faith, Norfolk. 318 – Dassault Mystère at the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum in Dumfries, Scotland.

USA 57 – Dassault Mystère IV A at the Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona.

Poland 146 - Dassault Mystère at the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków.

India IA1007 – Dassault Mystère IV A at the Jahaz Chowk in Gurdaspur.

France 01 - Dassault Mystère at Musée de l'air et de l'espace.

Specifications (Mystère IV A)

Dassault Mystère IV

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