04/30/2014. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "The Br 960 was designed as a twin-engined two-seat naval strike aircraft with a composite turbojet-turboprop power plant. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with retractable tricycle landing gear and single-ruddered tail unit. The crew of two was seated side-by-side and both members of the crew had ejection seats. The first of two 960 prototypes flew for the first time on August 3, 1951, its power plant consisted of a 4,850 lb (2,200 kg) st Hispano-Suiza (Rolls-Royce) Nene 01 turbojet in the rear fuselage and exhausting at the tail, and a 980 shp Armstrong Siddeley Mamba 1 turboprop in the nose.

The second prototype, which made its first flight on September 15, 1952, was powered by a 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) st Nene 104 turbojet and an 1,200 shp Mamba 3. This second prototype underwent with success a complete testing program of simulated carrier operations, with catapult-assisted take off and arrested landing, at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, England under the control of the British Ministry of Supply.

However, no orders materialized for the Br 960 in its original form, and the Nene engine of the first prototype was adapted to blow compressed air through injectors to control the boundary layer on the flaps. This program was conducted in cooperation with ONERA (Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales, National Aeronautical Studies and Research Office), which undertook part of the wind-tunnel tests.

The second prototype was modified to serve as a flying mockup for the Br 1050 antisubmarine aircraft. The Nene engine was removed and replaced by a retractable radar scanner, an additional cockpit was provided for the third member of the crew, and considerable electronic equipment and provisions for bomb and rocket armament was added. The mockup made its first flight on March 26, 1955, and was primarily intended to check the operation of the added equipment, the dispositions of the crew, and the development of all the equipment specified for the Br 1050. In its modified form this aircraft was known as the Br 965."