The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform trainer and light attack missions, as well as to perform these duties better than the first generation of jet trainers that preceded it. Following a competition, a design submitted by a team comprising Breguet Aviation, Dassault Aviation, and Dornier Flugzeugwerke, initially designated as the TA501, was selected and subsequently produced as the Alpha Jet.
Both the French Air and Space Force and West German Air Force procured the Alpha Jet in large numbers, the former principally as a trainer aircraft and the latter choosing to use it as a light attack platform. As a result of post-Cold War military cutbacks, Germany elected to retire its own fleet of Alpha Jets in the 1990s and has re-sold many of these aircraft to both military and civilian operators. The Alpha Jet has been adopted by a number of air forces across the world and has also seen active combat use by some of these operators.
Development Origins
In the early 1960s, European air forces began to consider their requirements for the coming decades. One such area of consideration was the requirement for a new generation of jet-powered trainer aircraft to replace such aircraft as the US-built Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star and French-built Fouga Magister. Britain and France established a collaborative program to pursue development of what was initially intended to become a supersonic jet aircraft. This aircraft was to be produced in two distinct variants for different roles: trainer and light attack aircraft. The result of this collaboration, the SEPECAT Jaguar, proved to be an excellent aircraft, but its definition had changed in the interim, and the type emerged as a full-sized, nuclear-capable strike fighter, whose two-seat variants were used for operational conversion to the type. As such, the Jaguar was not well suited for the general training mission."Alpha Jet." Dassault. Retrieved: 30 December 2012.
This left the original requirement unfulfilled. As a result of this outcome, in 1967, France entered into a series of discussions with West Germany on the topic of a prospective collaboration effort to meet this demand.Kocs 1995, p. 112. West Germany was keen to participate in such talks, having long held an interest in conducting joint training operations with France along with a desire for strengthening positive political relations between the two nations.Kocs 1995, pp. 112-113. France also valued military cooperation with West Germany, wanting to break a perceived German ideological preference for American aircraft.Kocs 1995, p. 113.
In 1968, a joint specification was produced out of these talks. One substantial change to the requirements was that the sought trainer was now specified to be subsonic, supersonic trainer aircraft having proven to be superfluous to practical requirements. In July 1969, a joint development and production agreement was signed between West Germany and France. Under the terms of this agreement, the two nations committed to purchasing 200 aircraft, these being domestically assembled in each of their own countries.
At one point, both the German government and the German Air Force had been keen to relocate pilot training activities from the United States to France as part of the project. In 1971, this was abandoned over fears of a hostile US reaction and West Germany's offset obligations to the United States making such a move unpalatable.Kocs 1995, pp. 112-114. While the joint Franco-German training proposal was abandoned, the German government felt obligated to proceed with the aircraft program. At the time, Germany did not require a new trainer aircraft, but needed a replacement for its fleet of Fiat G.91 attack aircraft.Kocs 1995, pp. 113-114.
Germany proposed that the aircraft be built in two distinct versions, as an inexpensive trainer for the French requirement, and as a close air support platform for the German requirement. This position was accepted by France. An initial point of contention whether to use a French or American powerplant for the aircraft was settled, with France agreeing to solely finance the development of the French-built Larzac engine while Germany agreed to adopt the same powerplant.Lambert 1974, p. 264.
Three groups of manufacturers produced proposals in response to the requirement. These were Dassault, Breguet and Dornier submitted the "TA501", which had been developed through a merger of the Breguet 126 and Dornier P.375 concepts. VFW-Fokker submitted their "VFT-291" aircraft, while SNIAS/MBB submitted the "E.650 Eurotrainer".Braybrook 1984, p. 270. Each of these proposals were to be powered by twin SNECMA Turbomeca Larzac turbofan engines. The German Air Force insisted that the trainer have two engines after having suffered from severe aircraft attrition rates due to the high accident rate of the single-engine Lockheed F-104 Starfighter.
Into production
On 23 July 1970, the Breguet-Dassault-Dornier TA501 was declared the winner of the competition.Lambert 1974, pp. 264-265. In February 1971, the project definition phase was completed and the integrated design team was set up at Saint-Cloud, Paris, France. That same month, a join Franco-German protocol was signed, launching the construction of four prototypes.Lambert 1974, p. 265. In February 1972, the approval to proceed with full development was issued. In May 1972, the first project meeting was held in Bordeaux, at which the order for the four prototypes was placed. In November 1972, the project passed its first mock-up review. Dassault was designated as the 'pilot' company for the project and possessed final authority on design and management decisions. This approach to project management has been claimed to have been a mostly efficient manner of running the program.Kocs 1995, p. 115.
Two prototypes were to be built by Dassault in France, Dassault having bought out Breguet in the meantime, and a further two were to be built by Dornier in Germany. In October 1973, the first French prototype performed its first flight at Istres, Marseille. In January 1974, the first German prototype conducted its maiden flight from Oberpfaffenhofen, Bavaria. The remaining two prototypes were in the air before the end of 1974. The first and second prototypes were used to explore the aircraft's flight envelope, the third prototype was fitted with the French trainer equipment fit and the fourth with the German close air support equipment. The prototypes were equipped with recording and telemetry equipment packages, allowing for instrumentation readings and other useful data to be received on the ground in real time during test flights.
Manufacture of Alpha Jet sub-assemblies was divided between France (Dassault), Germany (Dornier) and Belgium (SABCA), each country performing final assembly and checkout of the type in separate facilities. Dassault hosted the largest of these three assembly lines, typically producing 13 aircraft per month to meet the needs of French and export customers. It was reportedly capable of a maximum output of 15 Alpha Jets per month. The Dornier final assembly line typically maintained a maximum rate of six aircraft per month. In contrast to the final assembly arrangements, none of the three sources duplicated the manufacture of any component: Dassault-Breguet produced the front and center fuselage, Dornier constructed the wing, tail and rear fuselage, while SABCA manufactured the nose and flaps of the aircraft."Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet." Flight International, 8 November 1978. p. 1882. A total of 4,500 people were employed in the manufacturing of the Alpha Jet in Germany, an equal number in France also worked on the programme."Alpha Jet." Flight International, 1 May 1976. p. 1148.
Both Belgium and Egypt, who were early export customers for the Alpha Jet, domestically performed the final assembly of their French-configuration Alpha Jet E aircraft. In September 1978, Dassault and the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) signed a license manufacturing agreement for the Alpha Jet. Egyptian assembly work was carried out in a facility in Helwan, Egypt. In July 1978, Dassault signed an agreement with American aircraft manufacture Lockheed to market the Alpha Jet in the US market. The arrangement included provisions for Lockheed to manufacture the Alpha Jet under license. It was considered as a candidate for the US Navy's VTXTS advanced trainer program, eventually won by the McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk, a modified version of the Hawker Siddeley Hawk. Proposed modifications included undercarriage changes for nose-tow catapults and a stronger arrestor hook, as well as various US-sourced avionics and other equipment.
On 4 November 1977, the first production aircraft made its first flight. In September 1978, deliveries of production Alpha Jets began. The four prototypes remained in service as flying testbeds, being used for further development of the type such as to evaluate a composite graphite-epoxy wing and improved versions of the Larzac engine. Prototype 01 was specifically used early on to support the development of the Larzac engine. The different avionics fit makes French and German Alpha Jets relatively easy to visually distinguish the two, with French planes featuring a rounded-off nose and German ones featuring a sharp, pointed nose.
Further development In 1980, work began on an "Alternate Close Support" version of the Alpha Jet, featuring a SAGEM ULISS 81 INS, a Thomson-CSF VE-110 HUD, a TMV630 laser rangefinder in a modified nose and a TRT AHV 9 radio altimeter, with all avionics linked through a digital databus. The initial flight was in April 1982. Cameroon obtained seven, some sources claim 6, and Egypt obtained 15. As with the original Egyptian order for MS1 machines, Dassault provided four such machines under the designation of MS2, and AOI of Egypt assembled the other eleven from knockdown kits.
The Alpha Jet 2, originally the Alpha Jet NGEA (Nouvelle Generation Appui/Ecole or "New Generation Attack/Training") was a proposed development of the Alpha Jet. It featured the basic avionics of the MS2 plus compatibility with the advanced French Matra Magic 2 AAMs and the more powerful Larzac 04-C20 turbofans refitted to Luftwaffe Alpha Jet A aircraft. Some of the aircraft's new avionics were derived from the Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter."New-generation trainer/attack Alpha Jet flight-tested." Flight International, 24 April 1982. p. 1033."Warlike Jets." Flight International, 2 July 1983. p. 27. In 1982, it was claimed that the Alpha Jet NGEA was the "only existing aircraft in its category featuring a completely integrated digital navigation and attack system". While no new-build aircraft were produced of this variant, existing Egyptian Alpha Jets were reportedly upgraded to a similar standard. A single prototype was flown, presumably a modification of one of the original Alpha Jet prototypes. In September 1982, this aircraft made its first public appearance at the Farnborough Airshow."New Generation Alpha Jet First Public Appearance." Flight International, 4 September 1982. p. 657.
Another proposed variant was the Alpha Jet 3 Advanced Training System, at one point given the title of "Lancier". This proposal was intended to perform all-weather ground attack operations, as well as to perform anti-shipping and anti-helicopter missions. Featured many of the same systems as the Alpha Jet 2, it was to be equipped with twin cockpit multifunction displays (MFDs) and potential carriage of AGAVE or Anemone radar, a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) imager, a laser targeting system and a modern countermeasures suite. A prototype was flown, again presumably an upgrade of an original Alpha Jet prototype.