Dewoitine D.520
The Dewoitine D.520 was a French single-seat fighter that entered squadron service in early 1940. It originated from a 1936 French Air Force specification for a modern interceptor with high speed, strong climb performance, and a centrally mounted 20 mm cannon. Designers relied on the Hispano-Suiza 12Y liquid-cooled V-12, the most powerful domestically available engine at the time. Although the 12Y produced less power than contemporary Merlin and DB 601 engines, its lighter weight made it suitable for a compact airframe.
Among several competing designs, the D.520 was the only one to reach meaningful production before France’s defeat. Compared with the French Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, then the most common frontline fighter, the Dewoitine offered clearly superior performance and was broadly competitive with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E. It was somewhat slower than the German fighter but more maneuverable, giving it respectable dogfighting capability. However, industrial delays and retrofit requirements meant relatively few D.520s were operational during the Battle of France, limiting their strategic effect despite good pilot reports.
After the June 1940 armistice, the D.520 remained in service on both sides of the fractured French military. The Vichy Air Force continued to operate and later re-commission the type, while the Free French used small numbers alongside Allied equipment. Production resumed at a reduced pace in 1942. Captured or transferred aircraft also entered service with the Luftwaffe, the Italian Regia Aeronautica, and the Bulgarian Air Force. The D.520 subsequently saw combat in North Africa, on the Eastern Front, and in Bulgaria, and was also used for air defence and training duties in metropolitan France and Germany. In the post-war period it transitioned fully to advanced training roles. The final airframes were withdrawn from military service on 3 September 1953, closing more than a decade of operational use.
Photos of the Dewoitine D.520 can be found here:
Photographs of scale models of the Dewoitine D.520 can be found here.
France
The Dewoitine D.520 entered frontline service in early 1940, with Groupe de Chasse I/3 becoming the first operational user. Initial deliveries in January were unarmed and used for conversion training. Combat-standard aircraft began arriving in April and May 1940; 34 such airframes reached frontline units before major operations commenced. Pilots and maintenance crews judged the type favourably, noting its responsiveness and generally sound handling. Comparative trials on 21 April 1940 at CEMA against a captured Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 highlighted the D.520’s strengths and weaknesses. The German fighter held a roughly 32 km/h speed margin due to its more powerful engine, and its automatic leading-edge slats allowed it to sustain tight turns near the stall. The Dewoitine, however, matched the Bf 109’s turn radius and displayed superior maneuverability, albeit with hazardous departure characteristics: during trials it repeatedly spun out of turning manoeuvres.
When Germany launched its offensive on 10 May 1940, production totalled 246 aircraft, yet only 79 had been formally accepted by the Armée de l’Air. Many others were undergoing retrofit to the latest configuration. Consequently, GC I/3 was the only fully-equipped unit, with 36 combat-ready fighters. It engaged the Luftwaffe immediately, downing several reconnaissance and bomber aircraft from 13 May onward without initial losses. On 14 May the unit suffered its first combat attrition—two aircraft—while claiming ten confirmed victories across multiple Luftwaffe types, including Bf 109s, Bf 110s, He 111s, and Do 17s.
Additional Groupes de Chasse converted during the rapid escalation of the campaign, including GC II/3, III/3, III/6, and II/7, as well as the naval 1er Flotille de Chasse. Only GC I/3, II/7, II/6, and naval AC 1 saw significant action before the French capitulation; some units converted too late to participate meaningfully. A few Dewoitines were also flown by non-operational formations and by Polish and civilian volunteer pilots for airfield defence around Toulouse.
In total, Dewoitine units claimed 114 confirmed victories and 39 probables—mostly against Italian aircraft—at the cost of 85 losses. By the June 1940 armistice, 437 D.520s had been completed, of which 351 had reached the Air Force. Many escaped capture: 165 flew to North Africa, with several Groupes transferring intact to Algeria; three aircraft from GC III/7 reached Britain and joined Free French forces; and 153 remained in Vichy-controlled metropolitan territory.
Free France
A very small number of D.520s were briefly operated by Free French Forces for training purposes. Along with three examples that had flown to Britain in June 1940, two other Dewoitines were recovered from retreating Vichy forces in Rayak, Lebanon. These D.520s were flown by pilots of the Normandie-Niemen unit before it was sent to the USSR, where they flew the Yakovlev Yak-1 that had many similarities with the French aircraft.
By late 1942, only 153 Dewoitine D.520 fighters remained with French forces in North Africa after units formerly under Vichy aligned with the Allies. Although they flew limited patrol sorties in the Tunisia campaign, their combat value was marginal: they were technically outclassed and burdened with radio systems incompatible with Allied communications. Consequently, from early 1943 the type was shifted almost entirely to instructional use at the Meknes fighter school. Operational squadrons progressively transitioned to more capable equipment, notably the Supermarine Spitfire and Bell P-39 Airacobra.
During the 1944 liberation of France, several abandoned D.520s were recovered from Luftwaffe stocks as the Allies advanced. Approximately 55 such airframes were made serviceable and grouped into ad hoc formations for tactical ground-attack and close air support roles. Under former test pilot Marcel Doret, one unit conducted strafing missions against German defensive positions at Royan and Pointe de Grave, and furnished fighter cover for Allied bomber strikes against those coastal pockets. Following the formal reconstitution of the French Air Force on 1 December 1944, Doret’s contingent was designated G.C. II/18. It retained the Dewoitine for several months—even as an anomaly alongside modern Allied fighters—before receiving Spitfires on 1 March 1945.
Vichy France
Following the Fall of France, the Vichy French Air Force was permitted to operated the Dewoitine D.520, as long as they were not stationed in Metropolitan France. Consequently they fought the Allies in North Africa.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria received around 96 captured French Dewoitine D.520 fighters from Germany in late 1943, using them primarily for defending against Allied bomber raids on Sofia alongside Messerschmitt Bf 109s, proving quite effective despite their obsolescence. These aircraft served in the 6th Fighter Regiment.
Germany
When Germany invaded Vichy France in November 1942 they captured 246 Dewoitine D.520s. In addition, a batch of 62 was completed under German occupation. Of these fighters, 96 were sent to Bulgaria and 60 to Italy. The remaining fighters were used as advanced trainers by the Luftwaffe.
Italy
Roughly 60 Dewoitine D.520 fighters entered service with the Regia Aeronautica (RA). Italian pilots generally respected the type for its handling qualities and its Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20 mm cannon, which was competitive by 1940–41 standards. The first three airframes were allocated to 2° Stormo at Turin-Caselle for point-defence of the industrial zone. Additional examples were captured at various airfields in southern France, including Montélimar, Orange, Istres, and Aix-en-Provence.
By early 1943, Italian personnel ferried Dewoitines taken as war prizes to Italy. Italian pilots praised its armament, cockpit ergonomics, effective radio set, and benign spin behaviour, yet criticised its fragile landing gear and limited cannon ammunition capacity. Ammunition supply also proved a constraint, since HS.404 ammunition was incompatible with Italian Breda and Scotti 20 mm systems and had to be drawn from French stocks.
Operational allocation began in late February 1943 when 359a Squadriglia (22° Gruppo), led by Maggiore Vittorio Minguzzi, received eight Dewoitines for air-defence duties at a moment when American B-24 formations were regularly striking Naples. Pilots achieved modest success, and on 1 March 1943 Minguzzi claimed a B-24—initially assessed as probable, later confirmed—the first known Italian victory in the type. Further integration followed an Italo-German exchange agreement of 21 May 1943 involving LeO 451 bombers and 30 D.520s. Through spring and summer 1943 the aircraft equipped 161° Gruppo Autonomo at Grottaglie, Crotone, and Reggio Calabria. On 31 July 1943 the RA retained 47 D.520s on strength. Following the 8 September armistice, three surviving examples transferred to the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana for training duties.
