Dear Boys and Girls, here are a pair of articles about the proposed collaboration between Avions Marcel Dassault-Bréguet Aviation, McDonnell-Douglas, Aérospatiale and any other potential European partners to produce the Mercure 200 or ASMR "project"; the articles give an indication of the tortuous way ahead for the "project"; most likely promped by the lack of airline customer interest. At this point the "project" to develop the Mercure split into two parallel "projects"......
The first article describes how McDonnell-Douglas chose to develop the Mercure 200-based ASMR into the ASMR-2 with an all-new supercritical wing. No indication is given of any participation by Avions Marcel Dassault-Bréguet Aviation or Aérospatiale in this ASMR-2 "project"; it eventually led (much further down the line) to the later, larger and all-new ATMR "project" for a twin-aisle Boeing 757 competitor......
The second article describes Avions Marcel Dassault-Bréguet Aviation's own plans to develop a slightly revised Mercure 200-1 and shorter Mercure 200-2 "projects"; a sign perhaps of increasingly desperate efforts to salvage something from the disastrous Mercure programme......
The articles come from the August 1977 issue of Air International......
Terry (Caravellarella)
