Sud-Ouest SO 9000 / SO 9050 Trident

History

Before anti-aircraft missiles swept across the Cold War battlefield, aircraft designers needed to develop products that could strike and eventually destroy approaching enemy bombers in time. By the 1950s, the Soviet Union had become the enemy of the West, and the country had nuclear bombers capable of reaching any point in Europe.

As a result, the West has invested heavily in airspace deterrence through fighter jetsinterceptorsthat can confront air threats head-on.

Around this time, the French Air Force was rebuilding after its decline during the German occupation in World War II (1939-1945), and a new single-seat supersonic Mach 1 interceptor was required. It was designed specifically for use against enemy bombers at altitudes approaching 50,000 feet.

Most of the requirements were influenced by the first "jet-to-jet" duel of the Korean War (1950-1953), and the product was also entirely French in design, development and production.

SNCASO, formed in 1936 by the merger of aviation groups such as Bleriot, Bloch, Liore et Olivier, benefited greatly from the exercise when it was commissioned to meet the needs of the French Air Force. Engineers opted for a combined/hybrid setup consisting of a pair of turbojets and a rocket booster to power the lightweight airframe.

A turbojet would fit the main rocket engine as an auxiliary propulsion system.

NOTE: This approach to combating fighter propulsion was a common one in the 1950s, as the turbojets themselves lacked absolute performance due to baby tech at work - so they were usually mounted in pairs or coupled in pairs Increase speed with a rocket motor.

The shape of the aircraft is streamlined from nose to tail. The heavily framed cockpit is placed behind an elongated nose cone assembly. The rear wing consists of a vertical plane and a low-mounted horizontal plane and is hydraulically reinforced for a "full-movement" mass. The wings of the main aircraft are straight, thin, and centrally mounted on both sides of the fuselage.

One of the aforementioned turbojets is located on each wingtip, and the rockets are placed in the rear of the tubular fuselage. The hull also houses fuel reservoirs for the two engines, as well as a retractable tricycle landing gear that is reinforced for use on rough terrain.

The turbojets initially considered were 2 Turbomeca "Marbore II" centrifugal flow units, each providing 882 pounds of thrust. The liquid-propelled (three-chamber) rocket engine component of choice was SEPR's 9,920-pound Model 481.

Unlike turbojets, rocket motors have only one fuel supply, which allows them to last only a few minutes.

On April 8, 1951, the French Air Force committed to building a pair of airworthy prototypes, designated SO. 9000 "Trident". The first flight took place on March 2, 1953, but only powered by wingtip turbojets. The aircraft was shown to the public at the Le Bourget Airshow in the summer (June).

A second prototype was scheduled for its maiden flight in September 1953, but the sample scraped a pole during its first launch, resulting in a non-fatal crash.

On September 4, 1954, the Trident finally took off with the entire engine plan, but the rocket engine failed the following month and the plane was grounded pending an official inspection.

How to test SO. The 9000 has a curb weight of 7,400 pounds and a total weight of nearly 12,125 pounds. The top speed achieved is 1,061 miles per hour (Mach 1.6). Dimensions include a length of 45.10 feet, a wingspan of 26.8 feet and a height of 10.4 feet.

Engineers re-evaluated their aircraft and decided to install 2 x Dassault MDs on them. Thirty wingtip turbojets replaced the original Turbomeca pairings - these were the licensed production versions of the British Armstrong-Siddeley "Viper" (ASV.5) family of 1,642 pound thrust turbojets.

The first test flight of the new turbojet took place on March 17, 1955, and was very successful, as the expected performance gains were finally achieved. Over the next month, the plane reached speeds above Mach 1 in level flight powered only by turbojets.

After the missile is activated, the performance of the aircraft is further improved.

These early prototypes are just one of two major phases of the Trident program. Therefore, on December 10, 1956, the line was terminated because the plane had basically reached its destination. This opens the way for developing more advanced forms in SO.

9050 "Trident II" (in service as early as 1954), this model would better demonstrate the fast platform as a real fighter.

The new design inherits many of the powerful features of the original Trident. The cockpit was improved and the airbrake scheme revised, while the wing main aircraft was thinned and the landing gear legs were lengthened.

As an interceptor, the Trident II was designed to carry a weapons load of air-to-air missiles and air-intercept (AI) radars on its nose, so provisions were made for this. A major propulsion change is the SEPR Type 631 series twin-chamber rocket engine, which promises 6,600 pounds of thrust.

The first flight of the refined interceptor took place on July 19, 1955, and in December of the same year, the new rocket motor unit was successfully tested in flight conditions. A second prototype followed on January 4, 1956, but this example was lost (non-fatal) to a turbojet flame failure (both engines).

A third prototype flew for the first time on March 30, 1956, and a pre-production contract was signed that same year (which would eventually cover 10 aircraft) - these now use French-built Turbomeca "Gabizzo" turbojets , 2,425 pounds of thrust each.

In 1957, SNCASO merged with Sud-Est to dissolve and "Sud Aviation" was born in its place. The same year (May) one of SO. 9050 prototypes lost (pilot killed) while practising daily activities for the Paris Air Show.

That same month, a pre-production model flew for the first time, and so far, the interceptor has shown an excellent rate of climb and good performance, but it has been known to suffer in the low-altitude taxing envelope - nonetheless, it is record holder time.

While the program continued to mature and deliver on the promise of an interceptor role, politics seemed to doom the program as it was scrapped entirely on April 26, 1958. The fuselage, which was still under construction at the time, was dismantled and sold. The French Air Force still needed a domestic interceptor, so opted for the simpler single-engine Dassault Phantom (the official "Phantom One").

The rest of the active Trident II form continued its flight days as a research platform and nothing more, with the last flight claiming a world altitude record. One of the specimens ended up in the Musee Le Bourget.

Trident III, a proposed Trident development to carry thinner wings for improved aerodynamic efficiency and a more powerful turbojet, is scheduled to begin service on March 2. In addition, it required an advanced radar suite in the nose, but that proposal fell through.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes