Editing Dewoitine D.520 (section)

====Under Vichy====
[[File:Dewoitine D.520 (MAE).JPG|thumb|Dewoitine D.520 exhibited at the Air & Space Museum at Le Bourget]]

In April 1941, the German armistice commission authorized [[Vichy France|Vichy]] authorities to resume production of a batch of 1,000 military aircraft for their own use, under the condition that 2,000 German-designed aircraft would later be manufactured in France and delivered to Germany. As part of this agreement, 550 examples of the D.520 were ordered to replace all other single-seat fighters in service.<ref name="Danel and Cuny 1966, p. 106">Danel and Cuny 1966, p. 106.</ref><ref name="Danel 7 10">Danel 1971, pp. 7, 10.</ref> However, no D.520 units were to be stationed on the French mainland, thus individual aircraft were instead stored or dispatched to units overseas, such as in North Africa.<ref name="Danel 10">Danel 1971, p. 10.</ref>

The plan was to have the Dewoitine eventually equip a total of 17 ''Groupes'' with 442 aircraft, three ''escadrilles'' of the ''Aéronautique navale'' with 37 aircraft each, plus three training units with 13 aircraft. The agreement stated that aircraft of this new batch were to be similar to the ones already in service.<ref name="Danel and Cuny 1966, p. 106"/> From serial number 543 on, however, D.520s used the 12Y-49 engine that had a slightly higher rated performance than the 12Y-45, although the [[German Armistice Commission]] explicitly prohibited replacing the original power plants with the more powerful 12Y51 or 12Z engines.

In 1941, D.520s of GC III/6, II/3 and naval ''escadrille'' 1AC fought the Allies during the [[Syria–Lebanon campaign]]. The [[Vichy French Air Force]] was already relatively strong, but several units were sent to reinforce it. D.520s were the only French single-seat fighters capable of making the trip to Syria. The GC III/6 was sent first. The ferry trip was very difficult for a 1940 interceptor and the pilots pushed their planes as far as their fuel tanks would allow them to. They flew from France to Syria with intermediate stops at Rome, Brindisi or Catania. Another route was available through Germany and Greece (Athens), but it was seldom used. The trip always included a stopover in Rhodes (which had an Italian base at the time), before the final flight to Syria. This meant several thousand kilometers were flown over mountains and sea. The most demanding part was Catania-Rhodes, which entailed no less than {{cvt|1200|km}} flown over water.<ref>Vascotto, V. "La campagna di Siria." ''Storia Militare'' magazine, Albertelli editions, Parma, n.9/06 pp. 38–39.</ref> Even the trip from Rhodes to Syria was {{cvt|800|km}}. LeO 451s and [[Martin Maryland|Martin 167F]] bombers had few problems, but D.520s were forced to fly a strenuous and dangerous mission, without any help or external assistance. Of the 168 French aircraft (of all types) sent to Syria, 155 accomplished their mission and arrived successfully. The Vichy Air force was numerically strong, but with very few ground crew and spare parts, which meant that the operational flying time for the D.520s was very limited. D.520s of GC III/6 first saw action against British aircraft on 8 June 1941, when they shot down three [[Fairey Fulmar]]s, losing one D.520 (its pilot was taken prisoner).<ref>Sgarlato, Nico. "La campagna aerea di Siria." ''Eserciti nella Storia magazine,'' Delta editions, Parma, n.10/08, p. 44.</ref> Over the following days several escort missions were flown to protect Martin, LeO and Bloch 200 (3/39 Esc) bombers from British [[Royal Navy]] fighters. Two Hurricanes were shot down (with another D.520 lost) on 9 June.

During the Syria campaign, a total of 266 missions were conducted by the Vichy French Air Force: 99 of them were carried out by D.520s, nine by MS.406s, 46 by Martin 167s and 31 by LeO 451s. On 10 July, five D.520s attacked [[Bristol Blenheim]] bombers from [[No. 45 Squadron RAF]] that were being escorted by seven [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|Curtiss Tomahawks]] from [[No. 3 Squadron RAAF]] (3 Sqn).<ref name="Herington 1954, p. 94">Herington 1954, p. 94.</ref> The French pilots claimed three Blenheims, but at least four of the D.520s were destroyed by the Australian escorts, including two by [[flying officer]] [[Peter Turnbull (RAAF officer)|Peter Turnbull]].<ref name="Herington 1954, p. 94"/><ref>Brown 1983, p. 17.</ref> The following day, a Dewoitine pilot shot a P-40 down from 3 Sqn, the only Tomahawk lost during the campaign.<ref name="Herington 1954, p. 94"/> This Dewoitine was in turn shot down by F/O [[Bobby Gibbes]]. The initial advantage that the Vichy French Air Force enjoyed did not last long, and they lost most of their aircraft during the campaign. The majority of them were destroyed on the ground where the flat terrain, absence of infrastructure and absence of modern anti-aircraft (AA) artillery made them vulnerable to air attacks. On 26 June, a strafing run by Tomahawks of 3 Sqn, on Homs airfield, destroyed five D.520s of Fighter Squadron II/3 (Groupe de Chasse II/3) and damaged six more.

[[File:French aircraft wreckage North Africa 1943.jpg|thumb|Tail section of a burned Vichy D.520 at an airbase in North Africa, 1943]]
By the end of the campaign, Vichy forces had lost 179 aircraft from the approximately 289 committed to the Levant. The remaining aircraft with the range to do so, evacuated to Rhodes. The known French losses of fighter aircraft were 26 in air combat and 45 in strafing and bombing actions. The Allies lost 41 planes, 27 of those shot down by French fighters. During [[Operation Torch]] (the invasion of North Africa), GC III/3 (previously known as GC I/3), was engaged in combat with the Allies over [[Oran]]. ''Flotille'' 1F saw action against the [[United States Navy]] [[Grumman F4F Wildcat]] squadron [[VFA-11|VF-41]] (from the carrier {{USS|Ranger|CV-4|6}}), over [[Casablanca]]. One D.520 was among fourteen US victory claims; the only Allied losses were due to ground and friendly fire.<ref>Tillman 1995, p. 91.</ref> Other Dewoitine-equipped units in North Africa such as GC II/7 or GC II/3 did not take part in the fighting. Overall, the known D.520 air strength in North Africa was 173 D.520s (143 combat ready) of GC II/3, III/3, III/6, II/7 and II/5; another 30 were in Senegal with GC II/6. The Navy had Esc 1AC and 2AC. Many D.520s were destroyed on the ground by Allied bombing. The French Air Force lost 56 aircraft, among them 13 D.520s. The Navy lost 19 D.520s. Among the 44 kills that the French scored overall, there were five losses from fighters and flak out of a squadron of eight [[Fairey Albacore]]s from {{HMS|Furious|47|6}}, some of which were shot down by D.520s of GC III/3.<ref>Brown, J.D. p. 93</ref>