Mystère II: Inside France’s Supersonic Failure

Dassault's Ouragan was an important step forward for the French aviation industry but it was also obsolete on delivery. Progress needed to accelerate if France was to be a player in the lucrative international market for military jet fighters. So in 1951 Marcel Dassault was contracted to attach a swept wing to the Ouragan.

The eventual result, the Mystere II was a terrible combat aircraft. It was, however, the first of a dynasty that would produce two successful Mysteres and then a line of Mirages. Understanding the Mystere II is therefore essential to understanding how Dassault went from exiled outcast to industrial titan.

A couple of notes on this topic. Researching the Mystere is challenging because there are no good English language sources. I've therefore had to translate my French books on Dassault's fighters and use the result as the basis of this video. I imagine there will be some mistakes but I hope the compromises are worth it!

Second, getting good images and particularly good videos of the Mystere II has proved very challenging. The problem is compounded by some unscrupulous YouTube content "creators" claiming archive material as their own copyright. Because of the way YouTube assesses these claims it isn't worth the risk for me to use that content in videos. I've done my best to provide the right imagery and enough variety to make things interesting. Hopefully you will forgive some repitition!

Finally, my pronounciation of "Dassault" is not quite correct in this video. I hope you will forgive an Englishman's attempt and I'll do better next time.