SNCASO (Sud-Ouest) SO.7100 "Dogue" ground attack/COIN aircraft project

Dear Boys and Girls, here is an article in French about Sud-Ouest's entrant for the 1956 ground attack/COIN competition; the SNCASO Sud-Ouest SO.7100 Dogue. It remained a "project"......

The article comes from the 26th November 1955 issue of Les Ailes......

Terry (Caravellarella)

By the way,

in this competition,the tenders were;

SNCASO-7100 Dogue
Breguet Br.1060
NORD N-3300
Sipa S-1100
Latecoere-820 and 821
Morane-Saulnier MS-1600
Dassault MD-315 B
SNCASE SE X-116
Potez TOE

Thank you Hesham; I'll keep a look out for other designs on your list. I just love the fact that this design is called "Dogue"; I assume as in "Dogue de Bordeaux"......

Terry (Caravellarella)

Fascinating. Thank you so much Terry for reminding us that unbuilt French projects were that varied and interesting!

"Dogue" is French for a species of hound dogs, a logical, albeit not very sexy name for a COIN aircraft...

Thank you Stéphane; I wonder if that is where the English word "Dog" came from? I don't like dogs, but I understand a "Dogue" is some kind of big French Mastiff type creature. Good name for a ground-attack aircraft ;D......

Terry (Caravellarella)

Also from Ailes 11/1955.

Source at Twitter:
www.twitter.com/FanaAviationMag/status/1145573298350297088
www.twitter.com/FanaAviationMag/status/1145713333988986884

Another original SNCASO drawing of the Dogue from my collection.

dogue coin ? Musk would love it (I'll get my coat...)

More seriously... circa 1955-56 the Armée de l'Air started a flurry of prototypes for CAS / COIN in Algeria. Nothing like the Vautours or SMB-2s or Mirages they procured at the time.
In the end, the CAS / COIN Algerian war issue was solved through massive procurement of armed, second-hand T-6s and T-28s - plus Skyraiders.

...and Aéronavale F4U Corsairs

Also the P-47s very last hurrah.

Hello folks,
here’s a quick summary of an article about the SO.7100 “Dogue,” featured on pages 50-51 of the recent August 2025 issue of the French aviation magazine "Le Fana de L’Aviation." No new pictures have been added, as they were already shared earlier in post #7.
A three-view drawing from post #1 was updated and polished for inclusion in the article.

In the 1950s, amid colonial conflicts, French aircraft manufacturer SNCASO proposed the SO.7100 “Dogue,” a light attack aircraft inspired by French hero Philippe Livry-Level, who had extensive experience flying as RAF pilot a few Mosquito missions during WWII.
The “Dogue” was designed to perform close-support and low-altitude harassment missions—especially at night—where jet aircraft proved less effective due to their speed and maneuverability limitations. Livry-Level’s firsthand wartime insights heavily shaped the concept.
Here some highlights:

• Twin-engine, two-seat aircraft
• Approx. 1,200 horsepower
• Armament: Two 20 mm cannons + wing-mounted rockets
• Dimensions: Length 11.5 m, wingspan 17.3 m
• Weight: 3,300 kg (empty), 4,450 kg (loaded)
• Intended for simple, rugged, economical mass production

Despite promising qualities, the “Dogue” never advanced beyond paper plans. Competing designs like the Latécoère 820 and SE.116 “Voltigeur” made it to prototype stage, but none saw mass production. The Dogue's project files were shelved and rediscovered decades later in Airbus archives.

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Consdering how many times france has intervened in Africa im pretty surprised they never made a cheap coin aircraft like this.

Cjc said:

Consdering how many times france has intervened in Africa im pretty surprised they never made a cheap coin aircraft like this.

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Not sexy enough for Dassault to make.

Cjc said:

Consdering how many times france has intervened in Africa im pretty surprised they never made a cheap coin aircraft like this.

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Probably designed with the lessons of Indochina in mind, especially Dian Bien Phu, where the French found themselves doing a lot of night fighting against the Vietnamese People’s Army, who used darkness as cover to move troops and launch assaults.

So not just counter insurgency… would also been designed for close air support and interdiction against regular army units at night.

Scott Kenny said:

Not sexy enough for Dassault to make.

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Completely wrong. GAMD participated in the contest for the RFP that led to the SO.7000 prototype being ordered and made at least four proposals of COIN aircraft types between 1954 and 1962. Know what you are talking about before inferring things.

He was joking, BROF.

Cjc said:

Consdering how many times france has intervened in Africa im pretty surprised they never made a cheap coin aircraft like this.

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They made/had a lot of inexpensive COIN types, actually--both operational types and prototypes.

Operational types included:

* old fighters, including Republic F-47D, Bell P-63, Spitfire, Mosquito FB.VI, and Nakajima Ki.43
* Douglas B-26B/C Invader (the inspiration for the USAF B-26K/A-26A)
* Douglas AD-4/AD-4N Skyraider (the inspiration for later USAF use)
* armed S.I.P.A S.111 and S.12 light trainer
* armed North American T-6G trainer
* armed North American/S.N.C.A.N T-28S Nomad (the inspiration for the USAF T-28D)
* armed Morane-Saulnier MS.474-475 Vanneau trainer
* armed Morane-Saulnier MS.733 Alcyon trainer
* armed Dassault MD.311/312/315 light transport/trainer
* armed Sikorsky H-19/Westland Whirlwind helicopters
* armed Sikorsky HSS-1/H-34 helicopters
* armed S.N.C.A.S.E Alouette II/III helicopters

In addition to the Dogue, specialized COIN prototypes included:

* S.I.P.A S.1100 (twin radial piston engines)
* Morane-Saulnier MS.1500 Epervier (single-engined turboprop with fixed undercarriage)
* Dassault MD.410 Spirale (twin turboprop armed light transport)
* Dassault MD.415 Communaute (twin turboprop armed light transport)
* S.N.C.A.S.E SE.116 Voltigeur (twin radial piston engines)
* S.N.C.A.S.E SE.117 Voltigeur (twin turboprop engines)
* Potez 75 (air-cooled pusher V-8 engine, heavy armor)
* Fouga CM.82R Lutin (ultra-light jet related to the Fouga Magister)
* S.N.C.A.S.E SE.3164 helicopter gunship

This forum contains information on most if not all of the above. There are also a number of informative and well-illustrated French books on COIN efforts in Algeria, Indochina, Tchad, and Madagascar.