In 1953, French aircraft manufacturer Morane-Saulnier submitted a two-seat twinjet prototype, the Fleuret MS755, to the French Navy in a design competition for a new jet trainer. The Fleuret lost the competition to the Fouga Magister. Evolving from the Fleuret, however, the four-seat MS760A Paris made its debut in 1954. The Paris would go on to achieve sales success with the militaries of France and several other countries. The Paris was powered by two Turbomeca Marboré turbojets producing a maximum thrust of 880 lb each. The Marboré engines were also manufactured under license in the USA by Continental as the military's J69 series (Cessna T-37 Tweet, Ryan Firebee). In 1961, Morane-Saulnier started producing the MS760B. This Paris "B" was fitted with 1,080 lb thrust versions of the Turbomeca Marboré engine.
The Paris was used in liaison and training roles by the militaries of France, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, and remained in active service until 1997. In all, about 165 were built. A number of the jets remain flying today in private ownership. Twenty are currently registered in the USA. The Paris was the world's first four-seat production jet aircraft and can be be considered the forerunner of the executive jet. The Morane-Saulnier aircraft company became Socata in 1966. Today, EADS Socata manufactures a number of general aviation aircraft including the single-engine turboprop TBM 700 C.