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Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet
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===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"/>
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