The heir to the Ouragan and Mystère II, the prototype made its maiden flight on 28 September 1952. A first series was launched by the United States starting in 1954 (Off Shore system), followed by a second French order of 100 planes in 1955. The aircraft entered into service in the Air Force in 1955 and was exported to India and Israel. The 8th pilot conversion squadron kept its Mystère IV aircraft until 1982.
Designed as a development of the Mystère II and optimised to operate at high altitude, the Mystère IV bears an improved planform for transonic flight speeds, having increased wing sweep and reduced thickness. The plane is the first prototype of the Mystère IV with which Constantin Rozanoff broke the sound barrier in France for the first time in nosedive on 17 January 1953, during his 34th flight. In tribute to this episode the pilot had a broken wall painted onto the aircraft’s fuselage.
