S.O.4050 Vautour IIB

This page is about the French jet bomber S.O.4050 Vautour IIB. For other versions, see Vautour (Family).

S.O.4050 Vautour IIB

Lancaster MR.7

S.O.4050 Vautour IIA

S.O.4050 Vautour IIB

Lancaster MR.7

S.O.4050 Vautour IIA

France

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.7	9.0	9.0

Class:

Bomber

Jet bomber

Research:160 000

Purchase:450 000

Description

The S.O.4050 Vautour II was a French project with the intention of creating a capable multirole twin-engined aircraft that could be used as a frontline bomber, close air support, or as an all-weather interceptor. With different variants developed, each one to fulfil a separate task, the Vautour IIB was the bomber of the family. Compared to the previous Vautour IIA, this one added an additional crew member at the front of the aircraft in a transparent nose, tasked with acquiring the target to release the bombs. A total of 40 Vautour IIBs were built, with some being sold to Israel in 1960.

It was introduced in Update 1.73 "Vive la France". The S.O.4050 Vautour IIB acts as a bomber, as such, your main objective in air battles is to destroy enemy bases or destroy ground units to drain enemy tickets. Since it has a very good acceleration, it is one of the first to take off from the runway. When bombing, there are two main options: climbing to high altitudes and releasing the bombs from there works well but only in downtiers, since your lack of countermeasures makes it easy for enemy interceptors to attack you. The other option is rushing the enemy base, this works better and your acceleration makes it easier to be one of the first to reach the base, stay close to your team since you lack the agility or the countermeasures to avoid being hit by a missile or intercepted by a fighter.

General info

Flight performance

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Drogue parachute

Reduces braking distance when landing on any runway

Max speed

at 0 m1 107 km/h

Turn time32 s

Max altitude15 000 m

Engine2 х SNECMA Atar 101E5

TypeJet

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight21 t

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 0 m - sea level)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	1,102	1,098	15000	32.6	33.2	43.5	39.6	900
Upgraded	1,113	1,107		31.5	32.0	68.2	55.0

Details

Vautour IIB's self-sealing fuel tanks (fuel tanks are coloured in red)

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
✓	✓	✓	✓	X	✓

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
1,166	425	584	564	463	~7	~3

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 480	< 620	< 590	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Empty mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
SNECMA Atar 101E5		2	11,500 kg		327 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)			Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		8m fuel	20m fuel	26m fuel
950 kg	Axial-flow turbojet		12,510 kg	13,979 kg	14,713 kg	21,000 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB / SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (110%)
Condition	100%	110%	8m fuel	20m fuel	26m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	3,322 kgf	3,787 kgf	0.60	0.54	0.51	0.36
Optimal	3,627 kgf (1,100 km/h)	4,135 kgf (1,100 km/h)	0.66	0.59	0.56	0.39

Red = 50 mm Bulletproof glassYellow = 13.5 mm Steel plate Yellowish green = 6 mm Steel plate Green = 3 mm Steel plate Turquoise = 2 mm Steel plate

Survivability and armour

Crew2 people

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear425 km/h

• 50 mm Bulletproof glass in front of the pilot.
• 13.5 mm Steel plate behind the pilot's head.
• 6 + 13.5 mm Steel plate in nose.
• 3 mm Steel shell surrounding the cockpit in the fuselage.
• 2 mm Steel plate behind the fuel cells.
• 2 mm Steel plate in the tail.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB2 869 → 3 821

RB10 922 → 14 548

SB15 936 → 21 226

Total cost of modifications142 000

225 000

Talisman cost2 400

Crew training130 000

Experts450 000

Aces2 200

Research Aces890 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

100 / 260 / 600 %

214 / 214 / 214 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 420 Compressor Research: 8 000 Cost: 13 000 240 New boosters Research: 8 000 Cost: 13 000 240 Wings repair Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 360 Engine Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 360 G-suit Research: 23 000 Cost: 36 000 690	Airframe Research: 8 000 Cost: 13 000 240 Cover Research: 23 000 Cost: 36 000 690	SBC-17 Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 420 M117 Research: 8 000 Cost: 13 000 240 LBC-25 Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 360

Armaments

Suspended armament

The S.O.4050 Vautour IIB can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

	1	2	3	4	5
250 lb AN-M57 bombs	1	1	6	1	1
500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs	1	1	6	1	1
750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs	1	1	6	1	1
1,000 lb AN-M65A1 Fin M129 bombs	1	1	2	1	1
Maximum permissible weight imbalance: 1,000 kg

Default weapon presets
10 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs (2,500 lb total) 10 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bombs (5,000 lb total) 10 x 750 lb M117 cone 45 bombs (7,500 lb total) 6 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 Fin M129 bombs (6,000 lb total)

Usage in battles

Vautour IIB has very good acceleration, after takeoff side climb to 5000 m. From there you have two options,

Diving:

One way of playing the Vautour IIB is diving, rushing into a base bombing point and bombing it. Doing this can guaranteed a chance to drop a bomb at the base if the map is small enough to reach it. Following the bombing, the plane will still have a high speed due to the dive and so it can quickly withdraw back to the base to land and reload. However; this tactic doesn't work as well on larger maps where it would take a longer time to reach a base to bomb. Not to mention that doing so will sacrifice altitude and cause the Vautour to be below many enemy fighters, which the Vautour cannot defend itself due to lack of armaments.

Keeping your altitude:

The other way of using the Vautour IIB is by keeping your altitude and climbing and then using your bombsight to bomb a base. Staying at a high altitude can prove safer as it can cause the Vautour to stay atop of many enemy fighters. However, bombing can be harder due to many more variables to keep account for when using the bomb sight. Getting up to altitude at standard speed can also make reaching the base harder, and so it would take a longer time to complete a bombing run. In some cases, more well-performing fighters like the F-100s can make this tactic moot as their speed will ensure they catch up and destroy the Vautour before it has a chance to drop its payload.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Insane acceleration
• Climbs exceptionally well without ordnance
• Energy retention is great
• Airbrakes, you will need them to avoid compressing in a dive
• Possesses a bombsight

Cons:

• Lacks the rocket payload options of the Vautour IIA
• Compresses at high speed
• Massive penalties in-flight performance when carrying full payloads
• Turns like a brick
• Roll rate is also unimpressive
• Fragile engines; a hit to an engine will make you easy prey for enemy fighters
• Relies heavily on team support even more than the Vautour IIA does
• Massive target
• No offensive armament
• 110% will easily overheat your engines after short use
• Lack countermeasures

History

The S.O.4050 Vautour IIB was developed by Sud Aviation after World War Two to meet the demand for the French Armée de l'Air. This was a challenging task, after the German occupation in France. Many aircraft design teams have scattered. France was also new to the new jet propulsion area. The requirements issued by the French government called for a jet-powered multi-role attack aircraft that can perform as a bomber, low-level attack aircraft, and an all-weather interceptor. SNCASO met those requirements with a modified version of the S.O 4000. The new plane was designated the S.O.4050 Vautour and was manufactured in three different variants. The plane would serve in the AdA for several decades before replaced the newer Dassault Mirage. The Vautour was also one of the stop-gap measures used by the AdA as a nuclear deterrent. The Vautour would later be exported to Israel and serve with the IAF to counter Egypt's IL-28 twin-engine bomber.

The IIB, which differed from the previous IIA by adding a second crew member in a transparent nose, was a dedicated bomber variant. Its prototype first flew in December 1954. In total 40 of the IIB would be built. All were sold along with all of France's Vautour IIAs to Israel in 1960.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the S.O.4050 Vautour IIB from live.warthunder.com.

Images

• 

  Damaged Vautour IIb

Videos

The S.O.4050 Vautour IIB Bomber - Orangefan

See also

• Yak-28B

External links

• [Wikipedia] Sud Aviation Vautour
• [Air Vectors] The Sud Ouest Vautour II & Dassault Mirage IV
• Official data sheet - more details about the performance

SNCA SO (Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-ouest)
Fighters	S.O.8000 Narval
Jet Fighters	S.O.4050 Vautour IIN (late)
Jet Bombers	S.O.4050 Vautour IIA · S.O.4050 Vautour IIB · S.O.4050 Vautour IIN
Export	Vautour IIA IDF/AF · Vautour IIA · Vautour IIN