M.D.450B Ouragan

Description

The M.D.450B Ouragan was a fighter jet developed in France by Dassault Aviation and introduced in 1952. It was a very important milestone for France at the time, since it was the first French-built jet powered aircraft, serving for decades and functioning as a fighter-bomber. It participated in several conflicts, being exported to nations such as Israel, India and El Salvador. The M.D.450B Ouragan was the second variant of the Ouragan to enter production, it used an improved Hispano-Suiza Nene 104B engine and had a revised landing gears, since the aircraft's guns were prone to damage the frontal doors of the landing gear when the cannons were fired.

It was introduced in Update 1.73 "Vive la France". The Ouragan is a very capable air superiority fighter for its rank, like many other early jet fighters, it should be played very different compared to previous prop fighters. For instance, it has a slow acceleration, even when compared to other jets, but it has a very good top speed and energy retention below 700 km/h thanks to the wing design, that allow good control at high and low speeds. The aircraft however compresses a lot above 850 km/h, and this should be noted for dogfights and other engagements. For ground attacks, the Ouragan is fitted with 1000 lb bombs and rockets as its main secondary armament, it can be used to destroy a small group of enemy tanks in ground battles and then switch to an air superiority role, destroying enemy aircrafts and helicopters.

General info

Flight performance

Details

Engine performance

Survivability and armour

• 40 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front.
• 13.5 mm Steel plate in the nose.
• 13.5 mm Steel plates behind the pilot.

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Offensive armament

The M.D.450B Ouragan is armed with:

• 4 x 20 mm M50 cannons, chin-mounted (125 rpg = 500 total)

The four 20mm cannons are clustered on the underside of the fuselage, directly below the pilot. Each are armed with the same amount of ammunition, which means that all guns will fire with each other until empty. An advantage of this chin mounted arrangement is that gun convergence does not play a factor unlike wing-mounted guns.

Suspended armament

The M.D.450B Ouragan can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 2 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs (1,000 lb total)
• 2 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 16 x T10 140 rockets
• 16 x T10 151 rockets

Usage in battles

The usual strategy for the M.D.450B Ouragan is to play as a Boom & Zoom aircraft. It retains energy in vertical turns and can perform "BnZ" manoeuvres well. When you takeoff, it is recommended to gain speed immediately. After gaining speed, you can side-climb up to 2,500 - 3,000 m then head to the centre of the battlefield. When you're finally in the centre, you will have already gained significant speed by accelerating. Then you can commence Boom & Zoom tactics. This strategy goes as follows: Dive, engage, zoom up to 2,500 - 3,000 m, loop around, look for a suitable target, rinse and repeat. If you find yourself in a bad situation where you cannot use the recommended tactics, then your last resort option would be to turn. Beware that this bleeds a lot of speed and usually results in the M.D.450 becoming an easy target.

If this is your first jet, the most important thing to understand is that keeping your speed is vital in most jet engagements. By turning in big, wide circles and not attempting any speed-bleeding manoeuvres just to get a quick potential shot on target, you can excel in jet combat.

As the main role of the Ouragan is as a fighter aircraft, taking secondary loadouts to ground pound at the start of jet matches in air realistic battles is not recommended.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good manoeuvrability, especially between 500 km/h and 600 km/h
• Good roll rate
• Nose-mounted guns
• Does not compress much below 900 km/h
• Down-tiered often, very capable aircraft against lower-ranked aircraft
• Strong and effective flaps
• 20 mm M50 cannons excel with Air Targets belt
• Easy to fly and land with a ripped wingtip

Cons:

• Stock performance is lacking
• Wingtips rip easily in a dive
• Slow compared to contemporaries
• Extremely heavy compression above 970 km/h
• Poor acceleration
• 20 mm M50 cannons tend to spark and are less effective with Default belts

History

French aircraft designer and Resistance fighter Marcel Bloch's aim when the war ended was to put France's aeronautical industry back on the map and reduce dependence on foreign aircraft for L'Armee de l'Air. The M.D. 450 Ouragan (Hurricane) was the first jet fighter to be completely designed and manufactured in France. In total 350 were built for French service, 104 for the Indian Air Force, and 12 for the Israelis. Entering service in 1952, it was a front-line fighter until the swept-wing Mystere arrived in 1955, and continued in operational service in France until the mid-1960s, after 1961 as training aircraft.

Bloch's company Dassault started prototype construction in April 1948, two months before the French government agreed to authorize development. The first flight of the prototype was in February, 1949. The jet combined American ideas on jet manufacture with a British Nene engine license-built by Hispano-Suiza. It had a reputation as a strong climber with excellent handling characteristics, and a stable firing platform. It was the official jet of the French aerobatic team for two years. Production for the Armee de l'Air ran from 1951 to 1954, who used it to replace their British Vampires. The Indians called it the Toofani (Hurricane), with production of their order beginning in 1953. The Israelis received their initial 12 in 1955; they later augmented this by buying another 40 of the French Ouragans after they left active service. In operation service it was used as a fighter-bomber as well as in straight fighter roles.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the M.D.450B Ouragan from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

• M.D.452 IIA

External links

• Official data sheet - more details about the performance