Sud Aviation Vautour The Sud Aviation ( SNCASO ) S . O . 4050 Vautour II was a French bomber , interceptor , and attack aircraft used by the " Armée de l ' Air " ( AdA ) . Later , 28 of these aircraft were used by the Israeli Air Force . " Vautour " is the French word for vulture . Development . In June 1951 the French " Armée de l ' Air " issued a requirement for a jet aircraft capable of acting as a bomber , a low - level attack aircraft , or an all - weather interceptor . SNCASO adapted its existing S . O . 4000 for this purpose , the first prototype S . O . 4050 making its initial flight on 16 October 1952 . Subsequently named Vautour II , the aircraft was built in three versions . It entered service with the AdA in 1958 , with the last French aircraft leaving frontline service in 1979 . A few soldiered on in various duties into the early 1980s . The Vautour saw no combat in French service , and for much of its AdA service life it was maligned as obsolete and underpowered . Although a moderately good aircraft when originally produced , it never received sufficiently powerful engines . As an interceptor it was outclassed by the Dassault Mirage III , and as a bomber or attack aircraft its lack of an advanced navigation / attack system was a crippling limitation . The only export customer for the Vautour was Israel , which purchased 28 for the IDF / AF . The Israeli Vautours also entered service in 1958 . They saw combat against Egypt beginning the following year and in a series of actions through the Six Day War and War of Attrition . The Israeli Vautours took part in bombing , strafing and air - to - air engagements . In the Six Day War , over three days Vautours fought repeated combats with Iraqi Air Force fighters while raiding H - 3 airfield in Western Iraq . On June 6 , 1967 , Captain Ben - Zion Zohar scored the type ' s only aerial victory when he downed an Iraqi Hawker Hunter , although two Vautours fell to the guns of Iraqi Hunters on the following day . In all 15 Vautours were lost . They were retired in 1971 in favor of the A - 4 Skyhawk , and the last aircraft left service in March 1972 , serving as decoys in the Sinai . The Israelis were pleased with the Vautour ' s range and versatility , and it was well regarded in Israeli service . Design . The Vautour was a shoulder - wing monoplane with a 35° swept wing and a " flying " tail . Two SNECMA Atar 101 turbojet engines were carried in pods in the wings . It had bicycle - type landing gear , with the main units in the fore and aft fuselage and smaller stabilizing gear in the engine pods . The central fuselage carried a large 5 . 0 meter ( 16 ft 5 in ) weapons bay and substantial internal fuel tankage . The IIB bomber lacked radar or any other modern nav / attack systems , weapons being aimed by the bombardier in a glass nose section with a World War II - vintage Norden bombsight . Both the IIB and IIA were limited to clear - weather day use . The IIN interceptor had some capacity for night and adverse weather thanks to its radar . In Israeli service , where the weather was generally favorable and daylight missions commonplace , the Vautour ' s lack of advanced targeting and navigation equipment was not a crippling limitation , but in Europe it was considered a major disadvantage . As a result , the French AdA did not use the single - seat IIA in a frontline capacity , and most IIB bombers were converted to IIBR standard for photo recce work . French IIB could carry a single AN - 11 or AN - 22 nuclear weapon in its internal weapons bay , although the primary carrier of those weapons was the later Dassault Mirage IV . A fleet of 40 Vautour IIBs constituted the original air - based component of the French force de frappe , the Command des Forces Aeriennes Strategique ( CFAS ) of the French Air Force , established in 1955 . They were considered marginal for this strategic bomber role and a requirement for a supersonic replacement was placed soon after , in 1956 ( see Dassault Mirage IV ) . In response to that same 1956 requirement that produced the Dassault Mirage IV , Sud Aviation proposed a stretched Super Vautour , with a combat radius of 1 , 700 miles at Mach 0 . 9 . Variants . The Vautour was produced in three principal variants , which had 90 % commonality : Some IIB aircraft were converted to various specialized roles , principally reconnaissance ( IIBR and IIBN ) , ECM , and eventually target tug ( IIB - TT ) . Production . Total production was 149 aircraft , divided as follows :