Editing Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet (section)

==Development==
===Origins===
[[File:Fabrieksfoto van de Dassault-Breguet-Dornier Alpha Jet (2157 034078).jpg|thumb|An early Alpha Jet presented in a company marketing photo.]]

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.<ref name="Alpha Jet">[http://www.dassault-aviation.com/en/passion/aircraft/military-dassault-aircraft/alpha-jet.html?L=1 "Alpha Jet."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515212126/http://www.dassault-aviation.com/en/passion/aircraft/military-dassault-aircraft/alpha-jet.html?L=1 |date=2012-05-15 }} ''Dassault.'' Retrieved: 30 December 2012.</ref>

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.<ref name = "kocs 112">Kocs 1995, p. 112.</ref> 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.<ref>Kocs 1995, pp. 112-113.</ref> France also valued military cooperation with West Germany, wanting to break a perceived German ideological preference for American aircraft.<ref name = "kocs 113">Kocs 1995, p. 113.</ref> 

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.<ref name="AIjun84 p270"/><ref name = "lamb 264"/>

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.<ref>Kocs 1995, pp. 112-114.</ref> 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.<ref>Kocs 1995, pp. 113-114.</ref> 

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.<ref name = "kocs 114"/><ref name = "lamb 264">Lambert 1974, p. 264.</ref>

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".<ref name="AIjun84 p270">Braybrook 1984, p. 270.</ref> Each of these proposals were to be powered by twin [[SNECMA Turbomeca Larzac]] [[turbofan]] engines.<ref name="AIjun84 p270"/> 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===
[[File:Patrouille-de-france-alpha-jet-dessous.jpg|thumb|A French Alpha Jet of the [[Patrouille de France]] flight display team]]
On 23 July 1970, the Breguet-Dassault-Dornier TA501 was declared the winner of the competition.<ref>Lambert 1974, pp. 264-265.</ref> 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.<ref name = "lamb 265">Lambert 1974, p. 265.</ref> In February 1972, the approval to proceed with full development was issued.<ref name="AIjun84 p270"/><ref name = "kocs 114"/> 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.<ref name = "lamb 265"/> 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.<ref name = "kocs 115">Kocs 1995, p. 115.</ref>

[[File:Emmen, Dassault Alpha Jet E (Com LC1329-004-008).jpg|thumb|A Dassault Alpha Jet E demonstrator F-ZJRM in Emmen Switzerland, 1986]]
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 Air Base|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.<ref name="Alpha Jet"/> 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.<ref name = "lamb 265"/> 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.<ref name = "lamb 266"/>

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.<ref name = "flight manuf 1978"/> 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 [[Flap (aeronautics)|flaps]] of the aircraft.<ref name = "flight manuf 1978">[https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1978/1978%20-%202955.html "Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803101316/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1978/1978%20-%202955.html |date=2016-08-03 }} ''Flight International'', 8 November 1978. p. 1882.</ref> 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.<ref name = "flight 1148">[https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1976/1976%20-%200756.html "Alpha Jet."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803214506/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1976/1976%20-%200756.html |date=2016-08-03 }} ''Flight International'', 1 May 1976. p. 1148.</ref>

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 [[Licensed production|license manufacturing]] agreement for the Alpha Jet. Egyptian assembly work was carried out in a facility in [[Helwan]], [[Egypt]].<ref name = "flight 1978"/> In July 1978, Dassault signed an agreement with American aircraft manufacture [[Lockheed Corporation|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.<ref name = "flight 1978"/>

On 4 November 1977, the first production aircraft made its first flight.<ref name = "flight manuf 1978"/> In September 1978, deliveries of production Alpha Jets began.<ref name = "kocs 114"/> The four prototypes remained in service as flying testbeds, being used for further development of the type such as to evaluate a [[composite material|composite]] graphite-epoxy wing and improved versions of the Larzac engine.<ref name="Alpha Jet"/> Prototype 01 was specifically used early on to support the development of the Larzac engine.<ref name = "flight 1148"/> 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.<ref name="Alpha Jet"/>

===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,{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} 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 [[Knock-down kit|knockdown kit]]s.<ref name = "flight 1988"/>

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.<ref>[https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1982/1982%20-%201089.html "New-generation trainer/attack Alpha Jet flight-tested."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803105145/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1982/1982%20-%201089.html |date=2016-08-03 }} ''Flight International'', 24 April 1982. p. 1033.</ref><ref>[https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1983/1983%20-%201199.html "Warlike Jets."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803111144/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1983/1983%20-%201199.html |date=2016-08-03 }} ''Flight International'', 2 July 1983. p. 27.</ref><ref name = "flight 1988 36"/> 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".<ref name = "ngea public"/> While no new-build aircraft were produced of this variant, existing Egyptian Alpha Jets were reportedly upgraded to a similar standard.<ref name = "flight 1988"/> 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]].<ref name = "ngea public">[https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1982/1982%20-%202135.html "New Generation Alpha Jet First Public Appearance."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130051712/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1982/1982%20-%202135.html |date=2016-11-30 }} ''Flight International'', 4 September 1982. p. 657.</ref>

[[File:Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet A.jpg|thumb|A pair of Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet A from the extinct [[Asas de Portugal]] flight demonstration team in formation]]
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-surface warfare|anti-shipping]] and anti-[[helicopter]] missions.<ref name = "flight 1988"/><ref name = "flight 1988 36"/> 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.<ref name = "flight 1988"/> A prototype was flown, again presumably an upgrade of an original Alpha Jet prototype.

In June 1985, Dornier announced that it was studying its own third generation Alpha Jet upgrade program, independent of Dassault. This proposed upgrade involved substantial avionics upgrades and [[user interface|man-machine interface]] alterations, such as the addition of multiple [[head-up display]]s (HUDs) to allow instructors to view what students are viewing, with the aim of being more suited for the sophisticated requirements of modern and impending fighter aircraft. Dornier judged the Alpha Jet's airframe to have been suitable without modification for future market needs.<ref>[https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%202045.html "New Alpha Jet shown."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803111352/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1985/1985%20-%202045.html |date=2016-08-03 }} ''Flight International'', 22 June 1985. p. 9.</ref>

In September 1988, Dassault revealed that it had proposed a navalised variant of the Alpha Jet, as a carrier-based trainer to the [[French Naval Aviation]] to replace their [[Fouga CM.175 Zéphyr]] and [[Dassault Étendard IV]] fleets.<ref name = "flight 1988"/> Designated ''Alpha Jet Maritime 3'', it was promoted as having been fully navalised and fitted with the avionics intended for the ''Alpha Jet 3 Advanced Training System'' to give it compatibility with the upcoming next generation of carrier fighter aircraft. Carrier adaptions included the addition of an [[arrestor hook]] and a strengthened  [[landing gear]] and undercarriage.<ref name = "flight 1988"/>