The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform trainer and light attack missions, as well as to perform these duties more ideally than the first generation of jet trainers that preceded it. Following a competition, a design submitted by a team comprising Breguet Aviation, Dassault Aviation, and Dornier Flugzeugwerke, initially designated as the TA501, was selected and subsequently produced as the Alpha Jet. Both the French Air Force and German Air Force procured the Alpha Jet in large numbers, the former principally as a trainer aircraft and the latter choosing to use it as a light attack platform. As a result of post-Cold War military cutbacks, Germany elected to retire its own fleet of Alpha Jets in the 1990s and has re-sold many of these aircraft to both military and civilian operators. The Alpha Jet has been adopted by a number of air forces across the world and has also seen active combat use by some of these operators. Development Origins In the early 1960s, European air forces began to consider their requirements for the coming decades. One such area of consideration was the requirement for a new generation of jet-powered trainer aircraft to replace such aircraft as the US-built Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star and French-built Fouga Magister. Britain and France established a collaborative program to pursue development of what was initially intended to become a supersonic jet aircraft. This aircraft was to be produced in two distinct variants for different roles: trainer and light attack aircraft. The result of this collaboration, the SEPECAT Jaguar, proved to be an excellent aircraft, but its definition had changed in the interim, and the type emerged as a full-sized, nuclear-capable strike fighter, whose two-seat variants were used for operational conversion to the type. As such, the Jaguar was not well suited for the general training mission. This left the original requirement unfulfilled; as a result of this outcome, in 1967, France entered into a series of discussions with West Germany on the topic of a prospective collaboration effort to meet this demand. West Germany was keen to participate in such talks, having long held an interest in conducting joint training operations with France along with a desire for strengthening positive political relations between the two nations. France also valued military cooperation