Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms Space By Flag By Year By Tag

EKW D-3801 (MS.412)

History

The Swiss Air Force was one of the stakeholders of the French Morane-Saulnier MS before WWII. 406 Fighter theme. This line starts at MS. 405 and a Masters in Production Quality. The 406 and the series have evolved around several unique shapes and other production standards, including MS.

The 406H served in the Swiss Air Force during the war as "D-3800" (described elsewhere on this page).

Another entry in Swiss MS. 406 The story became "MS. 412" - known locally as "D-3801". This is another modification of MS. The 406 line was switched to a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51 inline 1,050 hp (takeoff) engine.

Armament follows the standard kit of the D-3800: 4 x 7.5mm machine guns (belt drive) and 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS mounted on the hub. 404 automatic cannon. Also, a simpler fixed radiator unit is used instead of the original telescopic type.

However, Germany's march to France in May-June 1940 meant that the project would be completed in Switzerland - which still faced a real threat of invasion.

As with the D-3800, production is carried out locally (under license) by Eidgenpssische Flugzeugwerke (SFK), but this time with support from companies such as Doflug (Dornier-Werke AG) and SWS.

The D-3801 prototype first flew in October 1940, followed by the first production-quality combat-ready delivery in 1941 and the last in 1945. In all, after 207 fighter jets were built for the Swiss Air Force, production ceased, making the D-3801 an important contributor to Switzerland's defense against a German invasion, but that never happened. As with the D-3800, two of the examples were built using existing spare parts, and 17 D-3801s were later added - again using available spare parts.

These came towards the end of World War II (1939-1945) in 1947-1948.

Like the D-3800 that preceded it, the D-3801 served as an advanced trainer for the Swiss Air Force until 1959, and some of it was still used as a target tugboat (the related D-3800 received permanent status in 1954).

When complete, the D-3801 will have a top speed of 332 mph, a rate of climb (initial) of 3,290 feet per minute, and a range of up to 745 miles. The kerb weight is 4,700 pounds and the MTOW is 6,000 pounds.