Sud Aviation

Société nationale de constructions aéronautiques Sud Aviation (French pronunciation: [syd avjasjɔ̃]; lit. 'National Aeronautical Construction Company South Aviation') was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating in the merger of SNCASE and SNCASO on 1 March 1957. Both companies had been formed from smaller privately owned corporations that had been nationalized into six regional design and manufacturing pools just prior to the Second World War. The company became a major manufacturer of helicopters, designing and producing several types which went on to be built in large numbers, including the Alouette II (the first production helicopter powered by a gas turbine engine; first flight in 1955), the Puma (1965) and the Gazelle (1967). In 1967, an agreement between France and the United Kingdom arranged for joint production and procurement of the Puma and Gazelle, together with the British-manufactured Westland Lynx. Sud Aviation also developed the Caravelle, the first jet-powered passenger airliners for the short-medium range market. In 1970, Sud Aviation merged with both Nord Aviation and the Société d'étude et de réalisation d'engins balistiques (SEREB) to form Aérospatiale.