The Dassault MD.452 Mystère is a 1950s French fighter-bomber. It was a straightforward development of the successful Dassault Ouragan
After the success of the Ouragan, Dassault was working on a more advanced machine which would take to the air in early 1951 as the MD.452 Mystère I.
The first prototype Mystère I was essentially an Ouragan with a 30-degree swept wing and modified tail surfaces. Two further prototypes followed, powered by the Rolls-Royce Tay 250 centrifugal-flow turbojet, an improved version of the Rolls-Royce Nene, built under licence by Hispano-Suiza, and rated at 28kN thrust.
These three Mystère I prototypes led to two Mystère IIA prototypes, powered by the Tay and armed with four 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on Hispano cannon; and then four Mystère IIB prototypes, which traded the four 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on cannon for two 30abbr=onNaNabbr=on DEFA revolver-type cannon. A Mystère IIA was the first French aircraft to break Mach 1 in controlled flight (in a dive), on 28 October 1951.
The eleven preproduction machines that followed were designated Mystère IIC, nine of which were fitted with the SNECMA Atar 101C axial-flow turbojet, rated at 24.5kN thrust, while two were experimentally fitted with the afterburning Atar 101F, with an afterburning thrust of 37.3kN.
The French Air Force ordered 150 Mystère IICs, with the first production machine flying in June 1954, being delivered in October of that year. The production aircraft featured the twin 30abbr=onNaNabbr=on DEFA cannon, an Atar 101D turbojet with 29.4kN thrust, increased tail sweep, and revised intake trunking and internal fuel tank arrangement. Top speed was 1030km/h at low level. Details of external stores are unclear, but a reasonable assumption would be that they were similar to those of the Ouragan.
The last Mystère IIC was delivered in 1957, by which time the type was already being relegated to advanced training duties. Aircraft design was moving very quickly in the 1950s and even as the Mystère IIC was becoming operational, the better Dassault Mystère IVA was flying. The Mystère IIC was very much an interim type, though it did persist in the training role until 1963.
There were no foreign buyers for the Mystère II. As noted, the Israelis wanted to buy 24 but changed their minds and bought Mystère IVAs instead. It appears that the Mystère II was never used in combat.