Mirage 2000
| Mirage 2000 | |
|---|---|
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| A Mirage 2000C of the French Air Force | |
| Role | Multirole fighter |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Dassault Aviation |
| First flight | 10 March 1978 |
| Introduction | July 1984 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users |
French Air Force United Arab Emirates Air Force Republic of China Air Force Indian Air Force |
| Produced | 1978–2007 |
| Number built | 601 |
| Developed from | Dassault Mirage III |
| Variants | Dassault Mirage 2000N/2000D |
| Developed into | Dassault Mirage 4000 |
| Dassault Mirage 2000 cutaway | |
 Hi-res cutaway of the Dassault Mirage 2000 by Flight Global
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The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter based on the Mirage III for the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air). The Mirage 2000 evolved into a multirole aircraft with several variants developed, with sales to a number of nations. The variants include the Mirage 2000N and 2000D strike variants, the improved Mirage 2000-5 and several export variants. Over 600 aircraft were built and it has been in service with nine nations.
The production of the Mirage 2000 involves three construction sites, all located in Bordeaux, that specialise in different components. The wings are built at Martignas, and the fuselages are fabricated at Argenteuil, with final assembly taking place at Bordeaux-Merignac. However, the first prototype, Mirage 2000 No. 01, was hand built at St Cloud, before being moved to Dassault's Istres facility for assembly. At the hands of Jean Coureau, No. 01 made its first flight on 10 March 1978, a mere 27 months after the programme go-ahead. During the 65-minute flight, Coureau took the aircraft to Mach 1.02 without afterburner, before climbing to some more than 12,000 m and accelerated the aircraft to Mach 1.3. By the end of May, the aircraft had surpassed Mach 2 and an indicated airspeed of 650 knots. On the other end of the speed spectrum, the Mirage 2000 proved to be a capable low-speed aircraft, as demonstrated at the Farnborough Air Show in September 1978, during which Dassault pilot Guy Mitaux-Maurourd raised the aircraft's nose to 25° angle of attack as the aircraft slowed to 100 knots. Later tests showed that the aircraft could attain 30° AoA while carrying fuel tanks and weapons.
The second prototype, No. 02, made its 50-minute first flight in September 1978 at the controls of Maurourd. The aircraft was tasked with the testing of some of the avionics systems and the carriage of weapons. Due to a flame out while on a landing approach, the aircraft was lost in May 1984. No. 03 would make its first flight in April 1979; equipped with a complete weapons system, it was tasked with radar and weapons trials. After 400 hours of flight, they were sent to CEV (Centre d'Essais en Vol, Flight tests centre). Although three prototypes were ordered in December 1975, Dassault constructed an additional fourth single-seat demonstrator for its own purposes, which embodied lessons on the earlier aircraft, namely the reduction in fin height and an increased fin sweep, redesigned air inlets and FBW system. The only dual-seat Mirage 2000B of the test programme first flew on 11 October 1980.
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Wikipedia