The fuselage was similar to the contemporary Morane-Saulnier Al parasol monoplane and preceded the Morane-Saulnier AC shoulder mounted wing monoplane, however, the Type AF was designed as a biplane.
It was Morane-Saulnier's first biplane design, as the company was specialized in monoplane designs.
It was flown for the first time on 23rd June 1917 and was tested by the Aéronautique Militaire (French Army Aviation) later, in the end of 1917. It was however, rejected and not accepted into mass production, in favour of the SPAD, Morane-Saulnier Al and Nieuport 28. In November 1917 a floatplane version was also presented, named Morane-Saulnier Type AFH, intended to operate from naval bases or even warships, equipped with a single central pontoon-like float, but it was rejected as well.
One prototype of each variant was built at Morane-Saulnier's factory in Villacoublay, one AF and another AFH . Each of them was powered by a single Gnome Monosoupape which delivered 150hp of power and were armed with a single forward-firing synchronized 7.7 (0,303in) Vickers machine gun.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morane-Saulnier_AF
2. https://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/167606
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
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