Mirage III / Mirage V

Even decades after production had ceased, Dassault's Mirage still stands as a symbol of French military prowess. Dassault began looking at lightweight fighters in the early 1950s - as was the case with other fighter builders, the firm believed that the Korean experience had shown the need for a small, fast, and highly maneuverable, if lightweight fighter.

The Mystere Delta design mated a Mystere-type fuselage powered by two British Viper turbojets with a delta wing and tail; flight trails began in June 1955, but the renamed Mirage I was really too small to have any future as an operational type, not having space for an effective radar, and with an armament that was restricted to a single AAM. The twin-engined Mirage II was not proceeded with, but development of the single Atar-engined Mirage III went forward. This retained the basic delta planform, but in much larger form, having more room for fuel and a Cyrano radar.

The prototype Mirage III flew in November 1956, and was followed up by a small number of preproduction Mirage IIIAs that were slightly enlarged; these were the first western European fighters to exceed Mach-2. The first production version was the Mirage IIIC fighter of 1960, with a full operational fit and a pair of 30mm DEFA cannon to back up the missile armament; in this regard, the Mirage was superior to the American Phantom, which would not be fitted with a gun until years later.

First flown on April 6, 1961 the Mirage IIIE was a slightly stretched all-weather fighter-bomber, immediately discernible from the IIIC by its enlarged intakes and repositioned cockpit. The Mirage IIIR was a reconnaissance version of the IIIE with cameras fitted in the nose, while the IIIRD model had a doppler navigation system.

Even as the Mirage was entering French service, switzerland was negotiating a deal to produce the type under license - the Mirage IIIS variant was designed to meet Swiss requirements, with a tailhook for operations from short wartime fields, Oerlikon cannon in place of the French guns, and provision for the AIM-4 Falcon AAM. The IIIS program was delayed, and cost overruns ultimately kept production limited to 58 examples.

RAAF Mirage III picture
An air-to-air left side view of  Royal Australian Air Force Mirage III A3-91during Exercise CORAL SEA 85. The Australian Mirages were finally retired in 1988, but many surviving airframes were passed on to Pakistan. (DoD / SSGT MARVIN D. LYNCHARD)

Australian Mirage IIIs picture
RAAF Mirage IIID A3-11 and Mirage IIIE A3-113, seen during a combined U.S.-Australian Air Force exercise, Pacific Consort. (DoD /TSGT CURT EDDINGS)

Belgian Dassault Mirage picture
A right side view of  Belgian Mirage BR-19 parked on the flight line during TACTICAL AIR MEET '78. (DoD / SSGT DAVID E. SHAFFER)


Egyptian Mirage 5

Egypt, which needed more fighters than the USSR would supply in the early 1970s, was the recipient of Mirage 5s transferred first from Libya and then Saudia Arabia before being supplied directly from Dassault. This Egyptian Mirage is shown during the US-Egyptian exercise Bright Star 85. (DoD / Sgt. L.C. Clipper)

Other Delta-Wing Aircraft
Convair XF-92
Avro Vulcan
F-102 Delta Dagger  in action review


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