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Sud Aviation

Sud Aviation
Company typeState-owned corporation
IndustryAerospace
PredecessorSNCASO
SNCASE
Founded1 March 1957
Defunct10 July 1970
FateMerged
SuccessorAérospatiale
HeadquartersToulouse, France
Key people
Maurice Papon (President, 1967–68)
ProductsAircraft
Number of employees
24 500 (1967)[1]
SubsidiariesSOCATA
Sud Aviation SE.3130 Alouette II ZU-ALO in South Africa

Sud Aviation (French pronunciation: [syd avjasjɔ̃], 'Southern Aviation') was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of Sud-Est (SNCASE, or Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-est) and Sud-Ouest (SNCASO or Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-ouest) on 1 March 1957. Both companies had been formed from smaller privately owned corporations that had been nationalized into six regional design and manufacturing pools just prior to the Second World War.

The company became a major manufacturer of helicopters, designing and producing several types which went on to be built in large numbers, including the Alouette II (the first production helicopter powered by a gas turbine engine; first flight in 1955), the Puma (1965) and Gazelle (1967). In 1967, an agreement between France and the United Kingdom arranged for joint production and procurement of the Puma and Gazelle, together with the British-manufactured Westland Lynx.[2][3] Sud Aviation also developed the Caravelle, the first jet-powered passenger airliners for the short-medium range market.

In 1970, Sud Aviation merged with both Nord Aviation and the Société d'étude et de réalisation d'engins balistiques (SEREB) to form Aérospatiale.

  1. ^ Hartmann, Gérard. "Snecma: les débuts difficiles de la coopération internationale (1965-1972)" (PDF).
  2. ^ "Written Answers: Helicopters (Anglo-French Agreement)". Hansard. 23 January 1967. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  3. ^ "A Gyration of WG.13s". FLIGHT International. 15 August 1968. pp. 262–263. Retrieved 17 August 2018.

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