Safran Aircraft Engines
SNECMA Coléoptère
The SNECMA Coléoptère was a daring French experimental aircraft developed in the mid‑1950s by the propulsion division of SNECMA, the predecessor of today’s Safran Aircraft Engines. Conceived as a vertical‑take‑off and landing (VTOL) platform, the project aimed to demonstrate a compact, high‑performance solution for naval and army deployment without the need for runways. Its most striking feature was the circular, disc‑shaped airframe that housed the pilot, fuel, and electronic equipment inside a central fuselage, while a single centrally mounted turbo‑jet engine provided thrust through a series of movable vanes that vectored the exhaust for lift, hover, and forward flight. The aircraft’s control system combined thrust‑vectoring with subtle movements of the disc to achieve pitch, roll, and yaw, a novel approach that pre‑figured later vectored‑thrust concepts. Although the prototype suffered a fatal crash in 1959 and the program was cancelled, the Coléoptère proved that a fully integrated VTOL configuration could be realized and contributed valuable data to subsequent research on lift‑jet and thrust‑vector technologies. Its audacious design remains a landmark in aviation history, illustrating the innovative spirit that continues to drive modern engine manufacturers such as Safran.
