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The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is used as a research aircraft in small numbers by DERA. In 1967, the French Armée de l’Air issued a requirement for a new basic trainer. The SEPECAT Jaguar was originally designed for this role, but developed into an aircraft too advanced & costly to be used for basic training. The German Luftwaffe was also in need of a similar type of basic trainer, & on July the 22nd 1969, the French & German governments agreed to adopt an aircraft produced by two companies, one from each country. Dassault-Breguet & Dornier were selected to produce a basic trainer with a light attack & reconnaissance capability. The Alpha Jet was designed to meet this specification & was accepted for production on the 24th of July 1970. The Alpha Jet first flew at Istres on the 26th of October 1973. Deliveries of 176 examples of the Alpha Jet A (Appui, French for Attack) began in 1979 to the Luftwaffe. The Alpha Jet E (Ecole, French for School) replaced the Magister & Mystère in Armée de l’Air service as the standard basic & advanced training aircraft. The Alpha Jet E has been developed into the Alpha Jet 3 to train future fast jet pilots who will fly aircraft like the Eurofighter. It has an advanced cockpit with multiple displays. The most prominent difference between the A & E variants is the nose. The A has a sharply pointed nose while the E’s is less acute. The Alpha Jet is seen as the British Aerospace Hawk’s main competitor, as both aircraft are designed for the same roles. The Hawk has been more successful however, & has even been exported to the US Navy (a difficult export customer). DERA operates 12 Alpha Jet T1s. |
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