Bloch MB.200

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Aero MB 200

The MB.200 was a French bomber aircraft of the 1930s designed and built by Societé des Avions Marcel Bloch. A twin-engined high-winged monoplane with a fixed undercarriage, over 200 MB.200s were built for the French Air Force, and the type was also licence built by Czechoslovakia, but it soon became obsolete, and was largely phased out by the start of the Second World War.

Development and designEdit

The Bloch MB.200 was designed in response to a 1932 requirement for a new day/night bomber to equip the French Air Force. It was a high-winged all-metal cantilever monoplane, with a slab-sided fuselage, powered by two Gnome & Rhône 14Kirs radial engines. It had a fixed tailwheel undercarriage and featured an enclosed cockpit for the pilots. Defensive machine guns were in nose and dorsal gun turrets and an under fuselage gondola.<ref name="Taylor p23">Taylor 1981, p.23.</ref>

The first of three prototypes flew on 26 June 1933.<ref name="Taylor p23"/><ref name="Dassault">"Military Bloch aircraft : MB 200" Template:Webarchive. Dassault Aviation. Retrieved 23 August 2008.</ref> As one of the winning designs for the competition, (the other was the larger Farman F.221),<ref name="Taylor p23"/> an initial order for 30 MB.200s was placed on 1 January 1934,<ref name="Dassault"/> entering service late in that year. Further orders followed, and the MB.200 equipped 12 French squadrons by the end of 1935.<ref name="Taylor p23"/> Production in France totalled over 208 aircraft (4 by Bloch, 19 by Breguet, 19 by Loire, 45 by Hanriot, 10 by SNCASO and 111 by Potez).<ref name="Angel p155">Angelucci 1981, p.155.</ref>

Operational historyEdit

File:Z Brna operovaly těžké bombardéry Licenční MB 200.gif

Czechoslovakia chose the MB.200 as part of a modernisation program for its air force of the mid-1930s. Although at the rate of aircraft development at that time, the MB.200 would quickly become obsolete, the Czechoslovakians needed a quick solution involving the license production of a proven design, as their own aircraft industry did not have sufficient development experience with such a large aircraft, or with all-metal airframes and stressed-skin construction, placing an initial order for 74 aircraft. After some delays, both Aero and Avia began license-production in 1937, with a total of about 124 built.<ref name="Taylor p23"/> Czechoslovakian MB.200s were basically similar to their French counterparts, with differences in defensive armament and other equipment.

The Spanish Republic acquired 2 units thirty days after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. These units were sent to Barcelona. Later, 30 units more were sent by ship and assembled in Air France's workshop at Prat de Llobregat. A third of the whole airfleet were shot down during the first months of the conflict and the rest were limited to the defense of the republican east coast during the rest of the war serving under the Escuadra 7 and the Grupo 72 combined with other French bombers. None of the 32 planes survived the conflict.

The gradual German conquest of Czechoslovakia meant that MB.200s eventually passed under their control, including aircraft that were still coming off the production line. As well as serving in the German Luftwaffe, some bombers were distributed to Bulgaria.

Vichy France deployed a squadron of MB.200s against the Allied invasion of Lebanon and Syria in 1941, carrying out at least one daylight bombing mission against British shipping.<ref name="Shoresp1 p245">Shores and Ehrengardt Air Pictorial July 1970, p. 245.</ref><ref name="Shoresp2 p284">Shores and Ehrengardt Air Pictorial August 1970, p.284.</ref>

VariantsEdit

MB.200.01: single prototype –
MB.200B.4: main production version – 2x Gnome-Rhône 14Kirs
MB.201: two Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrs engines<ref name="dassault-aviation.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

MB.202: four Gnome-Rhône 7Kdrs engines<ref name="dassault-aviation.com"/>
MB.203: two Clerget 14F diesel engines<ref name="dassault-aviation.com"/>

OperatorsEdit

File:MB-200 Bulharsko.jpg

Aero MB.200, Bulgarian Air Force, 1941

Template:Flag: Bulgarian Air Force – Purchased 12 ex-Czech MB.200s from Germany in 1939, using them as trainers.<ref name="Balkan p65-6">Green and Swanborough 1989, pp65-66.</ref>
Template:CZS: Czechoslovak Air Force

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Armée de l'Air (from 1935)

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Vichy French Air Force

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Luftwaffe (captured)

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Slovak Air Force (1 piece)

Template:Flagdeco Republicans

Spanish Republican Air Force received 30 units from France, at least one aircraft survived 1938 but none of them survived throughout the war. <ref>BLOCH 200/210 Template:Webarchive</ref>