In 1934, several French aircraft manufacturers set out to design new strategic fighter aircraft. Among them, Bréguet chose not to follow the given specifications in the belief that the limitations were impossible to uphold without compromising performance. Unsurprisingly, Bréguet lost out in that competition, but continued development of their project as a private venture.

Although progress was slow, the first prototype - Bre 690.01 - was completed in 1938 and successfully undertook its maiden flight. With war looming in late 1938 and the French military desperately in need of equipment, the Bre 691 was hastily ordered into production, with an initial order of 100 aircraft being placed.

Production began shortly after the first orders came in. However, not long after production began, reliability and availability of the Hispano-Suiza engines caused disruptions. As a result, the decision was made to outfit the Bre 691s with French-made engines of similar output values. The modified version received the new designation “Bre 693”, while remaining identical in design to its predecessor.

During the Invasion of France in 1940, Bréguet 693s were constantly in action and were praised by their crews for ease of handling, sturdiness and ease of maintenance. However, inadequate French tactics and powerful German AA weaponry led to high loss rates in the weeks following the invasion.

After the signing of the armistice, the Bréguet 690 family was, for the most part, decommissioned from active service, being mainly used as trainers. In the end, around 350 aircraft of the Bréguet 690 family were produced before the signing of the armistice, more than half of which were lost in action or destroyed on the ground.