French WW2 Planes: The 12 Best Aircraft France Flew, Ranked

The best French plane of World War II was the Dewoitine D.520, the one French-designed fighter that could fight the Messerschmitt Bf 109 on close to equal terms. The most successful fighter in French service was American: the Curtiss H-75 Hawk, which scored almost a third of the Armée de l’Air’s air-to-air kills in 1940.

We ranked 12 aircraft France flew in 1939 and 1940 by three things: how well they fought, how good the design was, and whether enough of them reached a squadron to matter. That last test is the story of the French air force. Several of these planes were excellent, and most of them arrived too late or in too few numbers.

The list includes the American types France bought and flew in combat, because a French crew flew them in French markings. Speeds are the best published figure for the main 1940 variant, in mph first, with the altitude where the source gives one.

Rank	Aircraft	Role	Top speed	How many France got
1	Dewoitine D.520	Fighter	350 mph (560 km/h)	351 delivered by the armistice
2	Curtiss H-75 Hawk	Fighter (US-built)	303 mph (488 km/h)	316 to 416 delivered (sources differ)
3	LeO 451	Medium bomber	308 mph (495 km/h)	373 accepted by the armistice
4	Bloch MB.174	Reconnaissance bomber	330 mph (530 km/h)	56 delivered, plus 25 MB.175s
5	Morane-Saulnier MS.406	Fighter	304 mph (490 km/h)	1,176 built, France’s most numerous fighter
6	Bloch MB.152	Fighter	316 mph (509 km/h)	482 built
7	Martin 167F	Light bomber (US-built)	304 mph (489 km/h)	About 140 by the armistice
8	Potez 63.11	Reconnaissance	264 mph (425 km/h)	730 delivered
9	Douglas DB-7	Attack bomber (US-built)	305 mph (491 km/h)	116 accepted of 270 ordered
10	Breguet 693	Ground attack	304 mph (490 km/h)	211 of the 690 family
11	Arsenal VG-33	Fighter	347 mph (558 km/h)	About 19 flown, under 10 delivered
12	Farman NC.223.4	Long-range bomber	Not published	3 built

1. Dewoitine D.520: The Best French Fighter of WW2

The D.520 prototype first flew on October 2, 1938, and the first fighter group, GC I/3, received its first aircraft in January 1940. Those first examples arrived unarmed. It carried a 20 mm Hispano-Suiza cannon and four 7.5 mm machine guns, and reached 350 mph (560 km/h).

When Germany attacked on May 10, 1940, 246 had been built, but the air force had accepted only 79. GC I/3 was the only fully equipped group, with 36 aircraft. On its first day in combat, May 13, it shot down three Henschel Hs 126s and a Heinkel He 111 without loss.

By the armistice, 437 had been built and 351 delivered. D.520 units were credited with 114 victories and 39 probables in the campaign, for 85 of their own aircraft lost; French tallies put the confirmed figure at 108.

The D.520 kept fighting for everyone. Vichy pilots flew it against the British in Syria in 1941 and against US Navy fighters from the carrier USS Ranger over Casablanca in 1942. Germany then seized 246 and passed 60 to Italy and around 100 to Bulgaria, and the last French D.520s were not retired until September 3, 1953.

2. Curtiss H-75 Hawk: The Most Successful Fighter in French Service

France bought the export version of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk, fitted with metric instruments and French equipment. The first aircraft arrived in December 1938 and entered service in March 1939. Its 900 hp Pratt and Whitney radial gave the H-75A-1 a top speed of 303 mph (488 km/h) at 19,000 feet.

On September 8, 1939, pilots of GC II/4 claimed two Bf 109s, which French sources count as the first Allied air victories of the war. In May and June 1940, H-75 pilots claimed 230 kills and 81 probables for 29 aircraft lost in air combat.

That made the Hawk the outlier of the campaign: 12.6 percent of the single-seat fighter force, almost a third of the air-to-air kills. Delivery totals differ by source, from 316 to 416 aircraft.

One detail tells you who it was built for. Its French-style throttle worked in reverse from US and British aircraft, with full power to the rear.

3. LeO 451: The Best French Bomber

The Lioré et Olivier LeO 45 first flew on January 16, 1937. It was a fast, modern four-seat medium bomber with large self-sealing fuel tanks and a top speed of 308 mph (495 km/h) at 13,100 feet (4,000 m).

It arrived slowly. Only 10 LeO 451s were in service in September 1939, and on May 10, 1940, just 54 of the 222 delivered were ready for combat. By the armistice, 452 had been built and 373 accepted.

Its rear gunner had a 20 mm cannon, and on June 6, 1940, Sergeant Grandchamp of GB II/11 used it to shoot down two Bf 110s. The type stayed in production for Vichy, and the 67 survivors flew as trainers and transports until September 1957, the last pre-war French design to leave active duty.

4. Bloch MB.174: Saint-Exupéry’s Reconnaissance Bomber

The Bloch MB.170 prototype flew on February 15, 1938, and the reconnaissance version, the MB.174, entered service in March 1940. At 330 mph (530 km/h) at 17,060 feet, it was faster than most of the French fighters on this list.

Its first operational mission, on March 29, 1940, was flown by Captain Antoine de Saint-Exupéry of reconnaissance group GR II/33. On May 23 he flew one over the Arras sector with an escort of five D.520s, two of which were shot down, and turned the sortie into his book Flight to Arras.

There were never many. Only 11 MB.174s were in the front line on May 9, 1940, and 56 MB.174s and 25 MB.175s had been delivered by June 22. Its speed kept it alive: published counts put its losses to enemy fire in the campaign at only three or four.

5. Morane-Saulnier MS.406: France’s Most Numerous Fighter

The MS.406 was the backbone of French fighter strength in 1940. Its prototype, the MS.405, flew on August 8, 1935, and 1,176 were built, more than any other French fighter of the war. Ten fighter groups flew it when the German offensive began.

It was already outclassed. Its 860 hp Hispano-Suiza engine gave a top speed of 304 mph (490 km/h) at 14,800 feet (4,500 m), and the Bf 109E outperformed it. Moranes claimed 191 confirmed victories in the Battle of France, and about 400 were lost, around 150 of them to enemy fighters and ground fire.

It did far better in Finland, where the air was less crowded with Messerschmitts. Finnish pilots scored 121 victories in Moranes, and some were re-engined with captured Soviet Klimov engines that made them 40 mph (64 km/h) faster. The Finns called that version the Mörkö-Morane.

6. Bloch MB.152: The Workhorse Nobody Loved

The MB.152 prototype first flew on December 15, 1938, and 482 were built. It could carry two 20 mm cannons, and its top speed was 316 mph (509 km/h), on paper faster than the MS.406.

The trouble was getting it ready to fly. On the eve of war, roughly 123 had been accepted, and most could not fly because they were missing their gunsights and propellers. On May 10, 1940, 93 were operational and 53 sat in reserve.

Official counts credit French MB.151 and MB.152 units with 135 victories for 94 aircraft lost. Aviation author Michel Cristesco judged it the least successful of its French contemporaries in combat, and the one with the heaviest losses. It still earned its place: in the final weeks of the campaign, it was the most numerous French aircraft still in service.

7. Martin 167F: The Bomber Britain Inherited

France ordered the Martin 167 light bomber from the United States, and the first 115 were delivered by late November 1939. Only 25 of a second batch reached France before the surrender. With a crew of three, it reached 304 mph (489 km/h) at 13,000 feet.

Four bomber groups flew it in May 1940. In about 400 sorties, its loss rate was only about 4 percent. Those losses, mostly to flak, still came to at least a quarter of its starting strength, and more were destroyed on the ground.

The aircraft still on order went to the RAF as the Maryland. Vichy crews flew the rest at Dakar, against Gibraltar, in Syria and during Operation Torch.

8. Potez 63.11: The Most Common French Aircraft of 1940

The Potez 630 first flew on April 25, 1936, and grew into a whole family: the 630 and 631 heavy and night fighters, the 633 light bomber, the 637 reconnaissance aircraft and the 63.11 army-cooperation spotter. Across all variants, 1,395 were built.

The 63.11 was the most numerous version, with 730 delivered out of 1,365 on order in September 1939. It was slow at 264 mph (425 km/h) at 18,000 feet (5,500 m), and it suffered the most losses of any French type in 1940.

It also looked like a Messerschmitt Bf 110, and French gunners shot some down by mistake. On May 26, 1940, the air force painted a white band on the fuselage to stop it. A rebuilt 63.11 flew again in 2012, restored by Jean-Marie Garric, a Frenchman living in Texas.

9. Douglas DB-7: The Havoc Before It Was the Havoc

The DB-7 was a Douglas design, built at El Segundo, California, by a team led by Donald Douglas, Jack Northrop and Ed Heinemann. Its Model 7B prototype first flew on October 26, 1938, and crashed on January 23, 1939, seriously injuring a French observer on board.

France ordered 270, and 116 had been accepted by the armistice. They reached 305 mph (491 km/h) at 9,650 feet. Accounts of their short combat career differ: about 70 sorties with at least eight lost, or 134 sorties with 15 shot down in the French count.

Britain took over the rest of the order as the Boston and Havoc, and the design became the US Army’s A-20. Boeing built 380 of the later versions, but the DB-7 that France flew was a Douglas aircraft.

10. Breguet 693: Brave, Fast and Shot to Pieces

The Breguet 690 family began as a three-seat fighter that lost its competition to the Potez 630, then became a two-seat ground-attack aircraft. The 690 prototype flew on March 23, 1938, and the main production version, the 693, reached 304 mph (490 km/h) at 16,400 feet (5,000 m).

The air force received 211 of them. On May 12, 1940, 18 Breguets from GBA I/54 and II/54 attacked German columns near Tongeren, Belgium, and flak shot down eight; French accounts count 10 lost or written off.

Of the 205 Breguets delivered, 58 percent were lost. Unlike most French types on this list, its combat career ended in June 1940.

11. Arsenal VG-33: The Fighter That Came Too Late

The VG-33 came from the state-owned Arsenal de l’Aéronautique and was built largely of wood, a non-strategic material. The prototype first flew on April 25, 1939.

With the same 860 hp Hispano-Suiza engine as the MS.406, it reached 347 mph (558 km/h) at 17,060 feet (5,200 m), close to the D.520. Even the wood ran short: delays in getting enough spruce meant the first production VG-33 did not fly until April 21, 1940.

About 19 were flown and fewer than 10 delivered before the armistice. Only two ever reached a frontline unit, GC I/55, four days before the fighting stopped, and none saw combat. It is the clearest “what if” of the French air war.

12. Farman NC.223.4 Jules Verne: The First Allied Bomber Over Berlin

The Farman F.220 family were the largest bombers to serve in France between the wars. Three NC.223.4s were built as long-range mailplanes, named Camille Flammarion, Jules Verne and Le Verrier, and the navy took the Jules Verne to war.

On the night of June 7, 1940, commanded by Capitaine de corvette Henri Daillière, it flew north around Denmark and over the Baltic to reach Berlin. It dropped eight 550 lb (250 kg) bombs and eighty 22 lb (10 kg) bombs, the first Allied bombs on the German capital.

The RAF did not bomb Berlin until the night of August 25, 1940. By then, France had been out of the war for two months.

Why France Lost the Air War in 1940 Despite These Planes

The Battle of France ran from May 10 to June 25, 1940, when the armistice signed on June 22 took effect. On the first day, the Armée de l’Air had 1,562 aircraft against a Luftwaffe of 5,638, a German total that includes gliders and transports.

Numbers on paper hid a worse problem. France held a reserve of nearly 2,000 aircraft, but a chronic shortage of spare parts left only about 599, or 29 percent, serviceable. Several hundred were grounded for want of parts as basic as propellers.

Industry was the root cause. In 1936 the government of Léon Blum nationalized most of the aircraft industry into six state companies, including SNCASE and SNCASO. The reorganization started too late to pay off before May 1940, which is why so many types on this list arrived in tens, not hundreds.

French losses are estimated at 1,274 aircraft destroyed in the campaign, and the RAF lost 931 between May 10 and June 22. The Luftwaffe lost between 1,236 and 1,428 aircraft, including accidents.

For how the other air forces compared, see our rankings of the best British fighter planes of WW2, German WW2 fighters and American WW2 fighters.

What Happened to the French Air Force After 1940

The armistice split French airpower in two. Vichy France kept an armistice air force, with about 850 aircraft in French North Africa at the armistice, until it was dissolved on November 28, 1942.

General de Gaulle founded the Free French Air Forces in July 1940, and they grew from 500 personnel to 900 by 1941. French pilots flew Spitfires in RAF squadrons such as No. 340 “Île-de-France,” formed in Scotland on November 7, 1941.

The most famous unit fought in Russia. The Normandie-Niemen group, created on September 1, 1942, flew Soviet Yak fighters on the Eastern Front, claimed 273 enemy aircraft and lost 42 pilots killed.

France flew its first home-designed jet, the SNCASO SO.6000 Triton, on November 11, 1946, powered by a German Jumo 004 engine. The Dassault Ouragan followed on February 28, 1949, and entered squadron service in 1952, the start of the line that leads to today’s French Air Force and its Rafale fleet.

FAQ

What was the best French plane of WW2?

The Dewoitine D.520 was the best French-designed plane of WW2. It carried a 20 mm cannon and four machine guns, reached 350 mph (560 km/h), and was credited with 114 victories in the Battle of France. Only 36 were with a fully equipped unit when Germany attacked on May 10, 1940.

What was the most successful French fighter in 1940?

The American-built Curtiss H-75 Hawk. H-75 pilots claimed 230 kills and 81 probables for 29 aircraft lost in air combat, almost a third of the French air-to-air kills from only 12.6 percent of the single-seat fighter force.

Did France have bombers in WW2?

Yes. In 1940 France flew older Amiot 143 and Bloch MB.210 bombers alongside the modern LeO 451 and Amiot 354, plus the American Douglas DB-7 and Martin 167F. Most modern types arrived in small numbers: only 54 LeO 451s were ready for combat on May 10, 1940.

What happened to the French Air Force in WW2?

It lost an estimated 1,274 aircraft in the Battle of France between May 10 and June 25, 1940. After the armistice it split: Vichy France kept an air force until late November 1942, while the Free French Air Forces, founded in July 1940, fought with the Allies, including the Normandie-Niemen group on the Eastern Front.

What was the first French jet?

The SNCASO SO.6000 Triton, which first flew on November 11, 1946, was the first French-designed jet to fly. It used a German Junkers Jumo 004 engine. The first French-designed jet combat aircraft to enter production was the Dassault Ouragan, which first flew on February 28, 1949.

What was the most produced French plane of WW2?

The Potez 63 family was built in the largest numbers, 1,395 across all variants. The Morane-Saulnier MS.406 was France’s most numerous fighter, with 1,176 built.

Did France have an aircraft carrier in WW2?

Yes, one: the Béarn, commissioned on December 5, 1927, the only aircraft carrier France produced until after the war. She was judged too slow for operations, so her squadrons fought from land bases, and at the armistice she was diverted to Martinique.

Did French planes keep fighting after France surrendered?

Yes, on both sides. Vichy D.520s and H-75s fought the British in Syria in 1941 and the Americans over North Africa in 1942, while Free French pilots flew Spitfires with the RAF and Yaks with the Normandie-Niemen group, which claimed 273 enemy aircraft.