Top 10: The most ugly French aircraft

The Top 10 explores France’s aircraft designs through the lens of ugliness, highlighting examples that clash with the nation’s engineering reputation. It opens with the Bréguet 1050 Alizé, a 1959–2000 carrier-based anti-submarine aircraft powered by a Rolls-Royce RDa.7 Dart Mk 21 turboprop producing up to 2,099 horsepower and a top speed around 322 mph; it served with the French Navy and Indian Navy, including INS Vikrant, and saw action in Goa’s 1961 liberation and the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, sinking three gunboats. Visually, the Alizé’s cluttered lines and bulges contributed to its notoriety, though it proved effective in service until 2000. The list continues with the Bréguet 763 and Amiot 143, among others, illustrating how aesthetics shaped reception as much as performance.