Sud-Est SE 5000 / SE 5003 Baroudeur

A private-venture single-seat tactical support fighter, the SE 5000 Baroudeur - a name derived from the Arabic word baroud for battle, and, in French Foreign Legion parlance, describing a pugnacious fighter - was designed by Wsiewolod J Jakimiuk. Of all-metal construction with a wing sweptback 36° at quarter-chord, the Baroudeur represented an attempt to achieve a measure of independence from permanent runways. In place of a conventional undercarriage, it was provided with a combination of jettisonable take-off trolley and landing skids a la Me 163B Komet. The first prototype was powered by a 2,395kg SNECMA Atar 101B turbojet and flew on 12 May 1954.

Proposed armament comprised two 30mm or 37mm cannon. The Baroudeur was progressively re-engined with the Atar 101C and 101D-1, this last, rated at 2,600kg, powering a second prototype, which flew on 12 May 1954 and featured a three degree increase in wing anhedral. Two months earlier, an official contract covered both SE 5000 prototypes as well as three SE 5003 pre-series aircraft. The first SE 5003 was flown in September 1955 with an 3,700kg Atar 101E-4, the second and third aircraft having a 2,850kg Atar 101D-3 and a 3,500kg Atar 101E-3 respectively. The Baroudeur eventually demonstrated the ability to take-off without recourse to the jettisonable trolley and the first SE 5003 was flown with flush-fitting auxiliary fuel tanks on the aft fuselage sides. The NATO nations elected to adopt a more conventional aircraft to meet the lightweight tactical fighter requirement and development of the Baroudeur was discontinued.

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A three-view drawing (1000 x 639)