In the late 1930s, war with Germany was just a matter of
time, and the Armée de l'Air had 1,000 MS.406s on order. Three of the
nationalised aircraft factories were set up to produce the type as
Morane-Saulnier did not have the capacity to fill the order. Production began
in late 1938, and the first production MS.406 flew on Jan. 29, 1939.
By April, six aircraft were
being produced daily, and by Sept. 3, 1939, when
France declared war on Germany, 535 MS.406s had
been delivered and production had risen to 11
per day. During the Phony War period, MS.406s
fought in a few clashes - mainly against German
reconnaissance aircraft or Messerschmitt Bf
109Ds. The MS.406, an earlier generation of
fighter, proved under-powered and ill-matched
against the fast German machines. The Dornier
reconnaissance aircraft were difficult to catch,
and the MS.406s suffered from indifferent
firepower.
Their 20-mm (0.79-in)
cannon had a low rate of fire and their two
machine guns had an extremely light punch. The
tenacious French pilots held their own against
the Bf 109Ds, but suffered badly when the 109Es
arrived near the end of 1939. During the Phony
War, the French started work on an upgrade of
the MS.406, paying particular attention to the
troublesome retractable radiator and the lack of
firepower.
A new version of the
aircraft, with a fixed radiator and a new wing
with two belt-fed machine guns that replaced a
single drum-fed gun, flew early in 1940. The
upgraded aircraft, the MS.410, was also tested
with ejector exhausts that boosted its top speed
to 316 mph (509 km/h). the Armée de l'Air
ordered 500 conversion kits but only five
MS.406s had been converted by the time the
Armistice was signed, June 25, 1940.
In March 1940,
production ceased after the Armée de l'Air had
taken on 1,064 aircraft, of which 60 were
exported. During December 1939-January 1940, 30
MS.406s were supplied to Finland, and 30 more
went to Turkey during February-March 1940. The
Germans attacked France on May 10, 1940. The
MS.406 pilots fought bravely - while credited
with 175 kills, they lost over 400 of their own
aircraft. Many more were destroyed on the ground
by German bombers. After Italy attacked the
French towards the end of the Battle of France,
the MS.406s fared somewhat better against the
less modern Italian types.
The Germans captured
a substantial number of MS.406s during the
Battle of France. Some aircraft remained in one
first-line fighter unit and some training units
in Vichy France and in other units in the French
colonies. The Germans set up a modification
centre for the MS.410 upgrade, and completed a
further 69 conversions - all with the new wing,
but only some with modified radiators. None had
the new exhausts.
The Germans supplied
captured Morane-Saulnier fighters to other
countries. Finland purchased a further 57
fighters - 11 MS.410s and 46 MS.406s. In
November 1942, Germany occupied Vichy France,
and acquired 98 more MS.406s. Two of these went
to Finland, 44 to Croatia, and 52 to Italy
although the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air
Force) only used 25 of these.
Finland, hard-pressed
for better aircraft in 1943, obtained captured
Soviet propellers and Klimov M-105P engines from
Germany, along with new oil coolers and MG 151
20-mm cannons. The Finns upgraded their Moranes
with this equipment. The new version, the Mörkö
(Ghost), served extensively in the Continuation
War against the USSR.
The Armistice also disrupted development of the
MS.412 (with MS.406 wing, HS 12Y51 engine, and
fixed radiator) for Switzerland. The Swiss
completed the work themselves and flew the
MS.412 in October 1940 as the D-3801. The D-3801
used the armament of the D-3800, and 207
examples were delivered between 1941 and 1945.
17 More were assembled from spares in 1947-1948,
and the type remained in service as a trainer
and target tug until 1959.
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