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Description
Heavy fighter adaptation of the MB.174.01, with a emphasis on armament, speed, and armor. The “CL” indicates chasseur lourd, or heavy fighter in French naming terminology for colategirizing aircraft.

Offensive armament was to consist of a single, drum-fed 25mm Hotchkiss SA mle 1934 in the nose, complemented by a pair of 20mm HS.404 cannons and 7.5mm MAC-1934 machine guns in both the upper and lower parts of the nose respectively. The armament alone would tear through most Axis aircraft of the era, if properly maintained.

Defensive armament was complemented by either a single 7.5mm MAC-1934 machine gun or sometimes a 13.2mm Hotchkiss mle 1939 heavy machine gun in the rear cockpit, although due of availability, the former was preferred. It also had limited ground-attack capability (awing from it's origins as a reconnaissance bomber.)

About fifty were converted from pre-production models and armed from 1939-1940, with some serving during the invasion of France in May 1940, acquiring kills over mainly German bombers and transports, before either flying over to Algeria or interning themselves in both Spain and the United Kingdom in order to prevent capture by the Germans.

Description
Heavy fighter adaptation of the MB.174.01, with a emphasis on armament, speed, and armor. The “CL” indicates chasseur lourd, or heavy fighter in French naming terminology for colategirizing aircraft.

Offensive armament was to consist of a single, drum-fed 25mm Hotchkiss SA mle 1934 in the nose, complemented by a pair of 20mm HS.404 cannons and 7.5mm MAC-1934 machine guns in both the upper and lower parts of the nose respectively. The armament alone would tear through most Axis aircraft of the era, if properly maintained.

Defensive armament was complemented by either a single 7.5mm MAC-1934 machine gun or sometimes a 13.2mm Hotchkiss mle 1939 heavy machine gun in the rear cockpit, although due of availability, the former was preferred. It also had limited ground-attack capability (awing from it's origins as a reconnaissance bomber.)

About fifty were converted from pre-production models and armed from 1939-1940, with some serving during the invasion of France in May 1940, acquiring kills over mainly German bombers and transports, before either flying over to Algeria or interning themselves in both Spain and the United Kingdom in order to prevent capture by the Germans.