The armament of the Vautour is described in the following sub-sections:
1) Originally, as dsigned in 1952, the Vautour was planned to be armed with
2 x 30mm gunpack. This was later changed to a heavier 4-gun pack.
The first model, fitted in some of the early Vautours, was the DEFA-551 cannons,
that proved to be with many malfunctions.
1) The Vautour had an internal weapon (bombs) bay of a large size [ 5m x 1m x 1m ],
designed for various loads - bombs, rockets or extra fuel.
1) The Vautour had 4 under-wing hardpoints.
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GUNS
2) A & N production aircraft were finally equipped with a battery of 4 DEFA-552, 30
mm guns, in the lower part of the nose, with 100 rounds per
gun (chain), and a theoretical rate of fire of 1,200 r/min, per barrel.
Two variants of these guns were installed during tests, till finally the 552A was to
become standard.
3) The B/BR variant carried no guns, built around the concept
of an escorted bomber. Also, because of the navigator's cockpit location, there
was no room left to install guns.
4) In the IAF it was frequently used to feed only a pair of guns with rounds, and not
automatically all four. All four guns fired simultaneously, and according to mission
the quantity of ammunition could be chosen. Firing of all four guns caused problems
at high altitudes, as extinctions of engines or damagind the radome (N subtype).
5) The whole pack was removable for reloading, checks or repairs, after dismantling the
barrels first. Changing a pack was a matter of ca. 15 min. but in times of stress
this diminished to 5-7 minutes.
6) The pack's weight, (gross, with ammo.) as I tried to calculate out of the whole
weights' data, was around 650 kg.
Rounds' delay fuses:
7) the original Hispano-Suiza fuses were planned to penetrate heavy bombers. It
was observed that shells hit fighter targets but the explosions occured
outside, after penetrating both sides. After this "discovery" a small
number of Oerlikon short-time fuses was received (by private initiative)
and replaced the H.S. fuses.
8) The IMI (Israeli Military Industry) manufactured, under license, the
30mm barrels (at a rate of ~ 100 yearly) and rounds (1958). IMI also
started to manufacture rounds with the Oerlicon fuses in 1962,
quite a long time after realizing their efficiency. During the 1964 alerts,
aimed to attack Syrian posts, the short-time fuses were already standard for
all 30 mm. guns.
9) Supply of barrels and 30mm rounds was highly increased during
1966-1967, and most IAF inventory (Mirage, SMB.2, Vautour and Mystere), was
well equipped in the Six Days War.
[Armament gallery: gunpack pictures ]
THE WEAPON BAY
2) The full array of armament was originally planned for the IIA & IIB variants, while general-purpose 68 mm. rocket packs was intended to be the secondary armament for the
IIN interceptor.
3) Fuel - 3,000 l' of fuel (in two "suits" - tanks of 1,500 l' each) could be
stored in the weapons bay, weighing a net of 2,400 kgs. In case a set of camerae (IAF), or
packs of 68mm. rockets (FR-AF), these were installed in the front, so only the rear fuel tank (of 1,500 l') was available.
4) Theoretically the weight which could be lifted was 3,000 kg, but for practical reasons the aircraft carried in the belly loads between 1,500 to 2,725 kgs. of weight.
5) The internal load consisted, normally, of six bombs, in two triplets.
Notes:
The use of a single pack, located at the front part, was adopted in the French
IIN only. The IAF gave up arming its Vautours with internal rockets
{Although exihibited in ground shows during the first years, which seems as deliberate misinformation .. }.
7) The Vautour IIA was planned , when the envisaged production quantity was for
hundreds of units, to carry ASMs internally. This was never applied. Tests of
ASMs took place in the FR-AF.
8) Both air forces installed PR equipment, in the lower part of the weapon bay
of the IIBR (IAF), or in the fuselage, beneath the navigator's cockpit (FR-AF).
A camera was also installed in the bomber/aimer cockpit. IIN variants were also
fitted with a camera in the nose, instead of the gunpack.
[ Armament gallery: weapon bay pictures ] ___
[ Structure gallery: weapon bay inside ]
EXTERNAL LOADS
2) The inner two stations were stressed to a max. load of 1,500 kgs. each.
The most heavy load carried was the 1,300 l' large drop tanks ( 1,250 kg. (French)
or 1,300 l' (Israeli), of a gross weight, full, of ca. 1,250 kgs.
3) The outer two stations, for the IIA & IIB, were designed for a 500 kgs load each. Thus the theoretical total load under wings reached 4,000 kgs. (practical - 3,500 kgs.).
4) The Israeli Vautour IIN were fitted, according to the IAF request, with the same underwing load capacity as the IIA/IIB subtypes ( 500 kg.).
5) The experimental French IIA Tanker carried an extra
1,300 l' fuel tank under fuselage , but no other
Vautours had such installations for under-fuselage load.
6) IAF Bomb Racks : The IMI (Israeli Military Industry) developed and
manufactured "quadruple" racks, which enabled to lift a larger number
of light/medium bombs rather than single heavy ones.
These racks were used in all Israeli Vautours, on all four stations,
to lift clusters of 70 kg. Runway Piercing or 100/120 kgs. HE bombs.
7). Both air forces developed improved types of external fuel tanks,
of varied capacity and of aerodynamic shapes. The IAF used the IMI 600 l' capacity
tank during the last period of the Vautours' service.
8) The total bomb load of the Vautour (IIA,IIB) was very impressive,
not only for its time. The Vautour attacked with a 4,400 kgs.
of bombs (short-range targets) and with 1,000 kgs. of bombs, targets at a distance
of over 1,000 km. (lo-lo-lo profile).
9) Despite its impressive loads the Vautour had no modern fire-control devices, which
made its efficiency highly dependent in the crews' skills.
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HISTORY
SPECS.
FR-AF VAUTOURS
IAF VAUTOURS
This chapter was last updated: May 25, 2002