Super Etendard-M

This aircraft is currently one of the most potent anti-ship and strike aircraft out there. I agree that it is not in the league of planes like the F-15E and F-4E, but it can nevertheless peform effective strike, anti-ship, recce, and even air defense missions. I guess the A-4 Skyhawk would be its primary contemporary along with maybe the Jaguar and MIG-27. I am sure a lot of people don’t think highly of this aircraft, but I for one am somewhat impressed by it. It is one of the few aircraft that has transonic peformance that doesn’t have an afterburner. It can reach speeds of Mach 1.3 which is about 860 mph. I think that is impressive. It has a climb rate of 25,000 feet per minute and a ceiling of 52,300 feet. It is equipped with the ATLIS laser designator pod, AS.30L missiles, AM.39 Exocet missiles, and R.550 Magic AAM’s. It also carries GBU-12 LGB’s, rocket pods, GP bombs, and even a buddy-refuelling pod. Let me hear some comments, hopefully good ones, on this aircraft.