Bloch MB.170

MB.170
Role	Reconnaissance bomber
Manufacturer	Société des Avions Marcel Bloch
First flight	July 1939 (M.174)
Introduction	March 1940 (M.174)
Retired	1950
Primary users	French Air Force French Navy Luftwaffe

The Bloch MB.170 and its family of derivatives were French reconnaissance bombers designed and built shortly before World War II. They were, by far, the best aircraft of this type available to the Armée de l'Air at the outbreak of the war, with speed and maneuverability that allowed them to evade interception by the German fighters of the time. Although the aircraft could have been in service by 1937, debate over what role to give the aircraft delayed deliveries until 1940. Too few in number to make any measurable impact on the Battle of France, they continued in service with the Vichy forces after the armistice. The MB.174 will also be remembered as the aircraft flown by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince during the campaign. His work Pilote de Guerre - translated as Flight to Arras and published in 1942 - is based on a 1940 reconnaissance mission in this type of aircraft.

In 1936, the Ministry for the Air initiated a programme of modernisation of French aviation which included a request concerning a two- or three-seat multi-role aircraft that could be used as a light-bomber or attack aircraft or for reconnaissance. A design team at the former Bloch factory at Courbevoie (which had recently become part of the nationalised SNCASO), led by Henri Deplante, proposed the MB.170, a twin-engined, low-winged cantilever monoplane.

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