Amiot 143 The Amiot 143M was a late 1930s French medium bomber designed to meet 1928 specifications for a bomber capable of day / night bombing , long - range reconnaissance and bomber escort . Design and development . In 1928 , the French Air Ministry issued a specification for a four - seat " Multiplace de Combat " , a multi - seat combat aircraft to act as a light bomber , reconnaissance aircraft and long - range escort fighter . Amiot received an order for two prototype Amiot 140s , to be evaluated against the competing Bleriot 137 , Breguet 410 and SPCA 30 . The Amiot 140 was a high - winged cantilever monoplane of all - metal construction , with corrugated wing skinning and a fixed tail wheel undercarriage . The pilot sat in an open cockpit , with cockpits for gunners in the nose and dorsal positions . A glazed gondola under the forward fuselage carried a bombardier / gunner , ensuring that the gunners had a clear field of fire all around the aircraft . The Amiot was intended to be powered by two 515 kW ( 690 hp ) Lorraine - Dietrich 18 Orion water - cooled W engine s but these were unavailable and the first prototype was fitted with Hispano - Suiza 12N br engines to allow flight testing , making its maiden flight on 12 April 1931 . The second prototype was completed in February 1932 but the continued non - availability of its intended engines , either the original Lorraine - Dietrichs or turbocharged Hispano - Suizas , meant that it never flew . Despite this , on 23 November 1933 an order was placed for 40 Amiot 140s , to be powered by 662 kW ( 880 hp ) Lorraine 12Q engines . The French Air Ministry had meanwhile revised its requirements , concentrating on the bombing role and asking for better performance . Amiot redesigned the aircraft to meet these requirements and incorporate lessons learned during testing of the Amiot 140 . The gondola under the fuselage was enlarged , allowing easier operation of the aircraft ' s guns and a fifth crew member ( a radio - operator ) to be carried . Manually operated gun turrets were provided in the nose and dorsal positions . Orders were placed for two prototypes , differing only in the engines fitted , with the Amiot 142 having Hispano - Suiza 12Y engines and the Amiot 143 having Gnome - Rhone 14K radial engines . The 143 flew first , on 1 August 1934 , with the 142 not flying until January 1935 . As it was decided to allocate the Hispano - Suiza engines to fighters , the Amiot 143 was selected , the existing order for 40 Amiot 140s being converted to 143s . The Amiot 143 had the same high - wing and fixed undercarriage as the Amiot 140 , with the wing thick enough to allow crew access to the engines by a tunnel between the wing spars . The pilot sat in an enclosed cockpit , level with the leading edge of the wing and the navigator - bombardier , who was also provided with flying controls , sat in the extensively glazed gondola beneath the pilot . The radio operator sat towards the rear of the gondola and in early aircraft operated two 7 . 7 mm ( 0 . 303 in ) Lewis gun s . Nose and dorsal turrets , each carrying a Lewis gun , completed the defensive armament , while the gondola also housed an internal bomb - bay . After 40 aircraft had been completed , the design was revised , with the aircraft being fitted with a longer nose ( increasing overall length from 17 . 94 m ( 58 ft 10 in ) to 18 . 24 m ( 59 ft 10 in ) , a revised fuel system and with the Lewis guns in the nose , dorsal turrets and ventral position replaced by single 7 . 5 mm ( . 295 in ) MAC 1934 machine gun s , with a fourth gun used by the navigator - bombardier firing through a hatch in the floor . Deliveries of the aging design eventually began in April 1935 , continuing until March 1937 , with a total of 138 being built . An improved version , the Amiot 144 was built to meet 1933 requirement for a " Multiplace de Combat " , combining the same fuselage and a similar wing with a retractable undercarriage . First flying on 18 January 1936 , only one was built . Operational history . The Amiot 143M entered service in July 1935 , with deliveries continuing in 1936 and 1937 . About six were going to be delivered to the Spanish Republican Air Force at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War . There is no evidence , however , that these obsolete French bombers flew over Spain during the Civil War . By the time the last deliveries were made in March 1938 , the Amiot was quite out of date and began to be replaced by modern aircraft such as the Bloch MB . 131 . Nevertheless at the outbreak of the Second World War , Amiot 143s equipped 5 metropolitan " groupes " together with a single African based " groupe " . During the Phoney War , Amiot 143M groupes carried out reconnaissance and leaflet raids over Germany . 87 Amiot 143M remained in front line service on 10 May 1940 , 50 equipping four metropolitan " groupes " : GBs I / 34 and II / 34 in the north , GBs I / 38 and II / 38 in the East and 17 equipping one African groupe , GB II / 63 , which was in the process of re - equipping with Martin 167F s . Following the start of the Battle of France , the Amiot 143M was mainly used in night attacks against German airfields and lines of communications , with losses relatively low . One notable exception was a daylight raid by 10 Amiots from GBs I / 34 , II / 34 and II / 38 led by Commandant de Laubier against German bridgeheads near Sedan on 14 May 1940 . Despite fighter escort , two Amiots were shot down while a third force - landed before reaching its base . By the Armistice , the Amiot 143M had dropped a total of 474 tonnes ( 523 tons ) of bombs . 52 Amiot 143Ms were in the Unoccupied Zone and 25 were in French North Africa . They were reorganized into GBs I / 38 and II / 38 and were used until July 1941 when they were replaced by LeO 451 bombers . Some planes of II / 38 served as a transports for the French in Syria . This " groupe " later went over to the Allies after their landings in Africa . The last Amiot 143M was retired from service in February 1944 . A few Amiot 143M are reported to have been commandeered by the Germans and used as transports . Only 11 were left in the Unoccupied Zone when it was occupied by the Germans in 1943 and only three were flightworthy . Had the war gone on a little longer for France , it is likely that all of the Amiot 143M would have ended up in a training role , having been replaced by more modern bombers such as the Breguet 693 . The obsolete plane was never intended to have such an important role come war time , but slow French production made its use necessary - often being pulled from training squadrons to shore up bomber " groupes " .