thumb|[[Bloch MB.200 in flight]]

The Société des Avions Marcel Bloch was a French aircraft manufacturer of military and civilian aircraft. It was founded by the aeronautical designer Marcel Bloch (hence "MB" in the aircraft designations), who had previously played a major role in the Société d'Études Aéronautiques, an early French aircraft manufacturer active largely during the First World War.

Following the end of the Second World War, Marcel Bloch changed his name to Marcel Dassault (as in char d'assault, French for "tank") to honour the military nickname adopted by his brother, Darius Paul Dassault. Accordingly, the company was also rebranded as Dassault Aviation, becoming a prominent manufacturer of jet-powered aircraft such as the Dassault Mirage fighter series and the Dassault Falcon family of business aircraft.

History

The origins of the company are closely associated with the activities of its founder, the French aeronautical designer Marcel Bloch.

During 1928, the French state established a dedicated Air Ministry, signalling that government interest in the aviation sector had returned.

On 16 January 1937, the Société des Avions Marcel Bloch was formally nationalised; its assets, including its factories at Courbevoie, Châteauroux-Déols, Villacoublay, Bordeaux, formed a major portion of the newly established Société nationale de constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Ouest (SNCASO).

  • MB.201, prototype version powered by two Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrs engines
  • MB.202, prototype version powered by four Gnome-Rhône 7Kdrs engines
  • MB.203, prototype version powered by two Clerget 14F diesel engines
  • MB.210, bomber, successor of the MB.200, 1934
  • MB.211 Verdun, prototype with retractable landing gear and powered by two Hispano-Suiza 12Y engines, 1935
  • MB.212, MB.211 re-engined with Hispano-Suiza 14A engines
  • MB.218, four-seat seaplane bomber project, 1937
  • MB.130, reconnaissance bomber, prototype for MB.131, 1934
  • MB.131, reconnaissance-bomber, improved MB.130, 1936
  • MB.133, prototype with revised tail, 1937
  • MB.134, prototype with two Hispano-Suiza 14AA engines, 1937
  • MB.135, four-engine derivative of the MB.131, 1939
  • MB.150, fighter, prototype for MB.151, 1937
  • MB.151, initial production version, powered by a Gnome-Rhône 14N-35 engine
  • MB.152, version powered by a Gnome-Rhône 14N-25 engine
  • MB.153, prototype version powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine
  • MB.154, proposed version powered by a Wright R-1820 Cyclone engine, not built
  • MB.155, version powered by a Gnome-Rhône 14N-49 engine
  • MB.156, proposed version powered by a Gnome-Rhône 14R engine, not built
  • MB.157, prototype advanced version, converted from a MB.152 and powered by a Gnome-Rhône 14R-4 engine
  • MB.170 reconnaissance/bomber, 1938
  • MB.174, version powered by Gnome-Rhône 14N-49 engines
  • MB.175, bomber version with redesigned bomb bay
  • MB.176, version powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1830-SC3-G Twin Wasp engines
  • MB.177, prototype version powered by Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 engines
  • MB.178, proposed development, cancelled due to arrival of the Germans
  • MB.462, c.1938
  • MB.500, monoplane trainer, 1938
  • MB.690, c.1938
  • MB.730, c.1938
  • MB.480, torpedo bomber/reconnaissance floatplane, 1939
  • MB.162, four-engine, long-range bomber developed from the MB.160, 1940
  • MB.800, three-seat trainer/mailplane, 1940; one aircraft completed during WWII as the Sud-Ouest SO.80
  • MB.700, monoplane interceptor, 1941

Civilian

  • MB.60, trimotor mailplane, 1930; initially known as the MB.VI
  • MB.61, version with Lorraine 5Pc engines
  • MB.90, light aircraft, 1932; first French all-metal aircraft
  • MB.91, as MB.90 but with rounded tailfin, diverging wing struts and faired-in landing gear; never flown
  • MB.92 Grande Tourisme, similar to the MB.91 but with tandem seating, 1932
  • MB.93, modified MB.90 with a de Havilland Gipsy Major I engine and MB.91 landing gear, tailfin and struts
  • MB.100, four-seat development, powered by a Hispano-Suiza 5Q engine
  • MB.110, mailplane, 1933
  • MB.120, three-engine transport/airliner developed from the MB.71, 1932
  • MB.141 two-seat light aircraft derived from the MB.81, 1934
  • MB.160, high-speed, four-engine airliner, 1937
  • MB.220, twin-engine airliner, 1935
  • MB.221, six surviving MB.220s re-engined with Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone engines
  • MB.300 Pacifique, three-engine airliner, 1935
  • MB.161, four-engine airliner developed from the MB.160, 1939; produced postwar as the SNCASE SE.161 Languedoc

References