Bréguet 960 Vultur

The Bréguet Br 960 Vultur was a prototype two-seat carrier-based attack and anti-submarine aircraft (ASW) built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) during the early 1950s.

Meeting contradictory endurance and speed requirements, it was designed as a "mixed-power" aircraft with a turboprop engine in the front and a turbojet in the rear.

[1] Bréguet recognized that the speed requirements were contradictory and could only be met by a mixed-power design that combined a diminutive Armstrong Siddeley Mamba turboprop in the nose with a Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet in the tail.

[2] The first prototype was fitted with a 970-shaft-horsepower (720 kW) Mamba I engine and a 21.6-kilonewton (4,900 lbf) Nene 101 turbojet which had its air supplied by ducts in the wing roots.

The first prototype was later modified to test engine air blown through slots in the upper surface of the wing intended to improve lift as the Br 963.

[4] When Aéronavale lost interest in a turboprop attack aircraft in 1953–1954, but was keen to purchase a new dedicated anti-submarine warfare platform, Bréguet modified the second prototype as a proof-of-concept demonstrator.

Bréguet 960 Vultur at 1953 Paris Air Show
Plan view of the Br.960