Dassault Mirage III
| Mirage III | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Royal Australian Air Force Mirage IIIO(F) (fighter) from 2 Operational Conversion Unit | |
| Role | Interceptor aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Dassault Aviation |
| First flight | 17 November 1956 |
| Introduction | 1961 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users |
French Air Force (historical) Pakistan Air Force Royal Australian Air Force (historical) Israeli Air Force (historical) South African Air Force (historical) |
| Number built | 1,422 |
| Variants |
Dassault Mirage IIIV Dassault Mirage 5 Atlas Cheetah |
The Dassault Mirage III (French pronunciation: [miʁaʒ]) is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft produced by Dassault Aviation for the French Air Force and widely exported. Prominent operators included Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and Israel, as well as a number of non-aligned nations. Though an older design, the second-generation fighter is a fairly maneuverable aircraft and an effective opponent in close-range dogfighting. In French service it was armed with air-to-ground ordnance or R.550 Magic air-to-air missiles.
The versatility of the design enabled production of trainer, reconnaissance and ground-attack versions, as well as the Dassault Mirage 5, Dassault Mirage IIIV and Atlas Cheetah variants. A Mirage III was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizontal flight.
The Mirage III family grew out of French government studies begun in 1952, which led in early 1953 to a specification for a lightweight, all-weather interceptor capable of climbing to 18,000 meters (59,100 ft) in 6 minutes and able to reach Mach 1.3 in level flight. Dassault's response to the specification was the MD.550 Mystère-Delta, a diminutive and sleek jet that was to be powered by two 9.61 kN (2,160 lbf) Armstrong Siddeley MD30R Viper afterburning turbojets, with a SEPR 66 liquid-fuel rocket engine to provide boost thrust of 4.7 kN (1,100 lbf). The aircraft had a tailless delta configuration, with 5% thickness (ratio of airfoil thickness to length) and 60° sweep.
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