SECRET PROJECTS: French jet hydro-fighters

Seaplane jet fighters were largely a blind alley, and France’s post-war concepts were no exception. In fact, some of them may have been completely unnecessary...

Given the brief wartime vogue for waterborne conversions of fighters — the likes of the Supermarine Spitfire, Grumman Wildcat, Dewoitine D520 and Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero-sen — it was not surprising that, in the immediate post-war years, the idea resurfaced. Prompted by the Saunders-Roe SRA/1 in 1947, French aircraft manufacturers began investigating the subject. At least three firms produced designs for jet-powered hydro-fighters: Latécoère, SNCASE (the Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Est) and Nord Aviation.

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