Until it is definitively replaced by the Rafale M around 2015, the Super Entendard remains in the front line of all combat missions carried out by the French naval air arm. From Lebanon up to Afghanistan, passing by Kosovo and Serbia, the naval plane has opened fire on its adversaries in often dramatic circumstances, but without losing a single plane in French colors.
Since it entered into service in 1978, the Super Entendard has also shown a capacity to adapt, which proves, once more, the genius and common sense of Dassault’s design team. There is no needless sophistication, nor an excess of power in this plane, but a straightforward multipurpose capability that has made this plane the backbone of carrier-borne French aviation for more than three decades…
Frederic Lert, a professional aviation journalist, is also a globe-trotter seeking confidential or classified information. He has already written several books of fame (Wings of the CIA, the B-52s, Sepecat Jaguar), and is now entitled, in this new series, with the 1960-1980 period.
