Nord 5000 Harpon

History of Nord 5000 Harpon

With the end of the Second World War (1939-1945), the French aviation industry began a painful rebuilding process that culminated in a number of initiatives. In the 1950s, the Soviet Union was the main enemy of the West, and its nuclear bomber force was in the spotlight. This has led to projects in Europe and elsewhere focusing on the prospect of high-speed, high-flying interceptors to counter these threats frontal and long-range through radar guidance and missile strikes.

Nord Aviation eventually attempted to supply the French Air Force with such an aircraft, the Armie de l'Air, with its Nord 5000 "Harpoon" proposal.

The

Harpon was an evolution of the company's early attempts at producing light interceptors. As early as 1953, the company began design studies on a duck-centric form with a rocket-only propulsion option - the "Nord Intercepteur Leger" or "NIL".

Although the design was ultimately rejected by the French authorities, the company subsequently introduced a turbojet version of the Rolls-Royce "Nene", which was also passed on by the service for various design and operational reasons. Through additional testing of small rocket-powered models from mid-1954 to early 1955, the company insisted on a more acceptable form of interceptor, resulting in the "NIL-6", also known as the "Nord 5000".

The new aircraft features a streamlined design with a tubular fuselage shape free of major obstacles and excellent aerodynamic efficiency at high speeds. For the same reason, the nose is very pointed and all wing surfaces have extensive leading edge sweep (60 degrees sweep). The aircraft was in a "canard" configuration, with smaller triangular wings mounted in front of the main aircraft, swept delta, and the main aircraft was placed far away (tail area) in the overall arrangement for balance.

The tail is dominated by a large triangular fin. The cockpit is located aft of the nose cone, but forward amidships, a light frame is used only on the canopy. However, rear visibility was blocked by part of the raised dorsal ridge.

The main aircraft are especially noteworthy because their tips are designed to rotate to help maneuver the craft at high speeds. Likewise, the canards are designed as fully mobile surfaces to help improve agility.

Propulsion will come from a "combo" arrangement consisting of 2 Turbomeca "Gabizo" afterburning turbojets, each capable of 3,375 pounds of thrust aft, and a SEPR-66 rocket booster, Powered by two combustion exhaust stacks from the stern. Engineers estimate the plane may have a straight-line speed approaching Mach 2.0 and reach an altitude of more than 80,000 feet.

As an interceptor, coupled with the aircraft's estimated inherent speed and altitude capabilities, the product will carry a Nord 5103 series air-to-air missile under the fuselage to repel Soviet bomber threats for short periods of time.

However, despite its promising prospects, the Harpoon was too financially and developmentally risky for the French Air Force to fund its development. As a result, the missile-assisted interceptor proposal was shelved and eventually forgotten in the history of Cold War military aviation, as a more modest solution was eventually sought and found.

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