Origins
Marcel Bloch — later known as Marcel Dassault — founded the Société des avions Marcel Bloch in the late 1920s, building on his wartime experience as an aircraft propeller designer. Operating from France during the interwar period, the company rapidly established itself as one of the most technically ambitious French manufacturers of the era, producing a broad range of military bombers and civil transport aircraft before the Second World War brought production to a halt.
Military Aircraft
Bloch's military output was dominated by twin-engine monoplane bombers developed for the Armée de l'Air. The MB.80 and MB.81 (1932) were early bomber prototypes that laid the groundwork for the more capable MB.200 (1933), a high-wing cantilever monoplane bomber that entered service with the French Air Force and was exported to Czechoslovakia and Romania. The MB.210 and MB.211 (1934–1935) followed as refined twin-engine bombers, with the MB.211 presented publicly in December 1934.
The MB.130 (1935) was a long-range maritime reconnaissance bomber, while the MB.131 (1936) served as a reconnaissance bomber with the Armée de l'Air. The most significant military achievement of the Bloch era was the MB.150 series — a family of single-seat fighter aircraft that culminated in the outstanding MB.157 (1937), one of the fastest piston-engine fighters of its generation, capable of speeds exceeding 700 km/h. The MB.133 and MB.134 (both 1937) were further bomber and transport developments rounding out the military portfolio.
Civil Aircraft
Alongside its military work, Bloch produced a series of civil transport aircraft. The MB.60 and MB.61 (1930) were early passenger transports, followed by the MB.90 and MB.92 (1932) and the MB.120 (1932), a three-engine airliner operated on French colonial routes. The MB.220 (1935) was a twin-engine low-wing monoplane airliner that served Air France on European routes, while the MB.300 (1935) was a large four-engine flying boat intended for transatlantic service. The MB.161 (1939) was a four-engine long-range airliner whose development was interrupted by the war and completed post-war by the SNCASE.
Legacy
The German occupation of France in 1940 brought the Société des avions Marcel Bloch to an abrupt end. Marcel Bloch refused to collaborate with the occupiers, was arrested by the Gestapo, and was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp. He survived, and upon liberation converted to Judaism, taking the name Marcel Dassault. In 1945 he refounded his company as Avions Marcel Dassault — the firm that would go on to produce the Ouragan, Mystère, Mirage, and Rafale, becoming one of the world's foremost combat aircraft manufacturers.