Development was cancelled by the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) in 1958 due to budgetary problems while flight testing was underway and before the second prototype was completed.

In 1953 the French Air Force issued a specification for a high-performance interceptor that could intercept and destroy any aerial threat after taking off from a 940-metre (3,080 ft) grass runway.

The ramjet was expected to produce a thrust of 160 kilonewtons (36,000 lbf) and a time to 25,000 metres (82,000 ft) of only seven minutes, a climbing speed much faster than jet-powered aircraft.

It retained the thick barrel-like monocoque fuselage and the protruding nose section housing the transparent Plexiglass cockpit, but added a range-only radar.

The ongoing Algerian War was consuming more of the military budget and the more conventional Dassault Mirage III was selected to meet the interceptor requirement.