This sort of approach allowed the aircraft to take-off and land on anything from fields, ice, snow, clay, or just about any other obstruction-free surface. Additional resistance was added during landing by way of hooks deployed from the skids to dig into the terrain. Three skids were fitted in all - two under the forward fuselage and the third under the tail section.
Two S.E. 5000 prototypes were constructed with the second featuring provision for in-flight refueling through a nose probe arrangement. The initial model was fitted with an Atar 101C turbojet and saw its first flight recorded on August 1st, 1953. Ventral strakes were added later for additional control support and were soon found to double nicely as additional contact surfaces when landing. Testing was carried on into 1954 with several showings arranged specifically to impress (and convince) French authorities of the value of this new aircraft.
Despite their apprehension, the French government ultimately moved on securing the Baroudeur for possible future serial production when a contract was signed with SNCASE during March of 1954. Three pre-production aircraft were part of the order that also covered the work already completed on the prototypes. In keeping with the established S.E. 5000 designation, the follow-on aircraft were designated as S.E. 5003. The slightly-modified second prototype went airborne for the first time on May 12th, 1954, reaching Mach 1 (in a diving action) in July.
On the whole, the aircraft exhibited good control, speed, and an excellent rate-of-climb. Cracks found in the wings soon grounded the project for the latter part of 1954 but the two prototypes were on full display by the 1955 Paris Air Show where they gave an audience a taste of their capabilities. The first pre-production aircraft followed in July of 1955 and this differed by being fitted with an Atar 101D engine - which increased performance - as well as additional fuel stores (conformal tanks held underwing) for extended range.
The second pre-production aircraft, fourth overall, was set aside for testing various weapons fits (none of which were settled on). The third pre-production model (fifth aircraft overall in the series) was developed to fulfill a NATO requirement for a uniform lightweight fighter to stock the inventories of its European participants. This aircraft first flew in March of 1956 but lost out to the Fiat G.91 from Italy - the Baroudeur proving to be too radical a departure for mainstream use. Critics also commented on its loss of responsiveness at high speeds, its slow roll rate, and elevator sensitivity beyond its rather novel take-off and landing quality.
With the opportunity lost, France's "skid fighter" saw its work slowed before being eventually stopped for good. The five completed aircraft were cannibalized to make up a sole existing example to be showcased at the Le Bourget Air & Space Museum.
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