The Sud Aviation SA 321 Super Frelon (Hornet) is Europe's largest production helicopter, developed in conjuction with Sikorsky in the US and Fiat in Italy which supplied technical assistance in various key areas. The Super Frelon is powered by three turboshaft engines which, together with a six-bladed rotor, can perform a variety of naval roles included anti-submarine warfare and passenger or cargo transport as well as secondary duties such as search and rescue (SAR), firefighting, and as a civil airliner. It's other main feature is a boat-like watertight hull suitable for amphibious operations while, on the other hand, weapons can be a mx of homing torpedoes or the famous Exocet missiles with an avionics suite which includes a large search radar which is most prominent on newer units. Foreign operators include Argentina, Iraq, Israel, Libya, South Africa, Zaire, and China which has reverse-engineered it.

The Super Frelon was based on the SA 3200 Frelon developed by Sud Aviation which was never put into production due to the adoption of a newer, more powerful version known as the SA 3210.01 first flown on 7 December 1962 as a basic troop transport while the first naval version took to the air the following year. The first pre-production SA 321 units were followed by the SA 321G ASW aircraft. These was followed by the SA 321 civil airliner and the SA 321J 27-passanger or cargo transport with firefighting capabilites. Foreign versions included the SA 321Ja for China (reverse-engineered as the Changhe Z-8), the SA 321K transports for Israel with General Electric engines and the similar SA 321L and SA 321M for South Africa and Libya.