Inspired by this:
http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=129.msg166526#msg166526SAPAC-LL (Lockheed-Latécoère) L-246F Guerrier ÉtoilésAvions Marcel Dassault submitted an upgraded version of its MD550
Mystère Delta, Britain's Fairey Aviation put forward a French-engined development of the
Delta 2, Sweden offered its Saab J35
Draken, and US Lockheed submitted the F-104
Starfighter. Controversially, the latter was the chosen design to re-equip the Armée de l'Air. [1]
The variant chosen was the Lockheed-Latécoère Model L-246F powered by the French Atar 09B turbojet. [2] Other major French equipment was a main armament of a centreline-carried Matra R.530 IR or semi-active radar-homing missile and Thomson-CSF
Cyrano I
bis radar set. Once accepted for AdA service, the name
Guerrier Étoilés (Star Warrior) was chosen for the new fighter (although, early on, Lockheed-Latécoère referred to the L-246F as the '
Lancier').
The
Guerrier Étoilés' single Matra R.530 missile was backed up by two wing pylon-mounted AIM-9B
Sidewinder short-range IR missiles for self-defence (these would be replaced from the mid-1970s by French-made Matra R.550
Magics) and a gun armament. For the
Guerrier Étoilés IA and II, the gun was a 20 mm M612 '
Vulcain' 6-barreled Gatling cannon, a licensed-built GE M61
Vulcan by Manurhin of Mulhouse-Bourtzwiller. These were replaced by twin 30 mm DEFA 552 guns on the '
GÉ' IIIC and later production fighters. [3]
Below A Lockheed-Latécoère
Guerrier Étoilés IIC of EC 2/13 '
Alpes', BA 132 Colmar-Meyerheim, 1963
(To be continued ...)
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[1] Officialdom regarded both the MD550 and Saab J35 to be underdeveloped. A similar conclusion was drawn on the British submission - despite a research prototype having flown in 1954.
[2] The full corporate name was l'Société Anonyme de Production de l'Avion de Chasse - Lockheed-Latécoère (SAPAC-LL) representing the combined interests of the US Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and France's Groupe Latécoère.
[3] The M612 proved prone to misfeeds and ejected link caused damage. The USAF solved this problem by adopting the linkless M61A1, the
Armée de l'Air preferred a domestic product.
BTW, the 'donor' profile was a CF-104 done by Lieuwe de Vries.