Breguet Bre.5

Bre.5, Bre.6, and Bre.12

Role: Escort fighter
Manufacturer: Breguet
First flight: 1915
Introduced: 1916
Primary users: French Army Royal Naval Air Service

The Breguet Bre.5 and its derivatives the Bre.6 and Bre.12 were French escort fighter biplanes of World War I.

Design and development

This family was a development and refinement of the escort fighter concept that Breguet had designed to be produced by Michelin as the BUC. Initially intended to carry the same 37 mm (1.46 in) Hotchkiss cannon that armed the BUC, the Bre.5 was revised, at the request of the French Army, to carry a 7.7 mm (.303 in) Lewis Gun fired rearward from atop the biplane's upper wing. A small number of cannon-armed machines were produced from April 1916 onwards and allocated to bomber units. Britain's RNAS operated 35 of these aircraft, 10 purchased from Breguet, and 25 built in the UK by Grahame-White as the G.W.19.

The Bre.6 was an essentially identical machine powered by a Canton-Unné engine, developed in response to fears that production of the Bre.5's Renault engine may have been unable to keep up with demand. It was produced both as an escort fighter, but also as a bomber.

As the Bre.5 reached obsolescence, a number were remanufactured as Bre.12 night fighters and night bombers. The fighter variants carried the 37 mm (1.46 in) cannon that was now equipped with a searchlight.

Variants

Bre.5 Renault-powered version.

Bre.5Ca.2 Cannon-armed escort fighter version. Grahame White G.W.19 British-built version for RNAS with Rolls-Royce Falcon engine.

Bre.5Ca.2 Cannon-armed escort fighter version. Grahame White G.W.19 British-built version for RNAS with Rolls-Royce Falcon engine.

Bre.6 Canton-Unné-powered version.

Bre.6B.2 Bomber version. Bre.6Ca.2 Cannon-armed escort fighter version.

Bre.6B.2 Bomber version. Bre.6Ca.2 Cannon-armed escort fighter version.

Bre.12 Bre.5s remanufactured for night fighting

Bre.12B.2 Night bomber version. Bre.12Ca.2 Cannon-armed night fighter version.

Bre.12B.2 Night bomber version. Bre.12Ca.2

Operators

France

French Army

United Kingdom

Royal Naval Air Service

Specifications (Bre.5Ca.2)

General characteristics

Crew: Two, pilot and gunner
Length: 9.90 m (32 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 17.50 m (57 ft 8 in)
Height: 3.90 m (12 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 57.7 m² (621 ft²)
Empty weight: 1,347 kg (2,970 lb)
Gross weight: 1,886 kg (4,158 lb)
Powerplant: 1 x— Renault 12Fb, 164 kW (220 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 136 km/h (83 mph)
Endurance: 6 hours 15 min
Rate of climb: 1.2 m/s (236 ft/min)

Armament

1 x— trainable 37 mm (1.46 in) Hotchkiss cannon in front cockpit

Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 202.
World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 890 Sheet 79.

Breguet Bre.5 Pictures and Breguet Bre.5 for Sale.

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Source: WikiPedia