SNCASO SO.4000

SO.4000
Role Bomber
National origin France
Manufacturer SNCASO
First flight 15 March 1951
Status Cancelled
Number built 1
Developed into Sud Aviation Vautour

The SNCASO SO.4000 was an experimental French twin-engine bomber of the 1950s. It was the first French jet bomber developed, but it never entered operational service.[1]

The SO.4000 was developed because the French Air Force needed a jet bomber, which produced a specification calling for one after the end of Second World War. The SNCASO's SO.4000 received a development contract to produce a pair of mockups and a full-scale prototype. The single full-scale aircraft, which performed its first and only test flight on 15 March 1951, would never enter mass production. Even prior to this flight, the design had been made obsolete by rapid advances in the field of aviation and was overweight and underpowered. Shortly after its only flight, during which it had been damaged during the landing, it was decided to abandon development. However, the SO.4000 would form the basis of the far more successful SO.4050 Vautour.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference bomber 69 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "IAF Aircraft Inventory: Sud-Ouest S.O. 4050 Vautour." Jewish Virtual Library, Retrieved: 16 September 2017.