Friday, February 12, 2016

A Morane-Saulnier MS.406 Fighter of Finnish Air Force

An Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force) Morane-Saulnier MS.406 fighter of 1.Lentue/Lentolaivue 28 (1st Flight, No. 28 Squadron) at Viitana base, near Äänislinna in 1942. A more modern type of Finnish fighter that saw service during the Winter War (1939-1940) was the heavy Morane Saulnier MS.406, which was slow and lightly armed. France donated 30 of these aircraft. They reached combat readiness in February 1940 and achieved 14 aerial victories. During the Interim Peace and Continuation War, a further 57 were purchased from Germany. The MS.406 suffered heavy losses due to its poor performance, and was recommended for shelving as early as 1942. This was unfeasible because of the overall lack of aircraft, so modification and modernisation efforts were undertaken instead. The results were underwhelming, to say the least.


Source :
Book "Finland at War: The Winter War 1939-40" by Vesa Nenye, Peter Munter & Toni Wirtanen

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