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Mirage IIIE

Mirage III
RAAF Mirage III 1.JPEG
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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