It was derived from engines and design work carried out at BMW in Germany during World War II, and extensively developed though a progression of more powerful models.

To develop an indigenous gas turbine aero-engine the French government acquired the services of a large contingent of German design engineers and technicians.

By September the team was housed at the Dornier factory at Rickenbach near Lindau on Lake Constance and had largely completed design of the ATAR 101 by October 1945.

The early engines were constructed from ordinary commercial steels and suffered from very short running lives, not achieving a 150-hour endurance test until 1951.

As more exotic materials were introduced the durability and reliability of test engines improved dramatically and on 10 November 1950 the first flight-ready ATAR 101A flew in the fuselage of a Martin B-26G Marauder (F-WBXM).