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Dassault Mirage III

History

The Phantom III family of supersonic fighter jets proved to be a popular product during the decades of the Cold War, when Mach 2 flight speed was a key quality for many aircraft. Over 1,400 of these examples were eventually built in France and overseas, and many sub-variants and testbeds were derived from the same solid original design. The delta wing performer was a pioneering system at the time and became popular for its combat performance at the hands of Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Today (2013), despite being phased out by most of the world's major air forces, the Mirage III still has a small share of the inventory of a select few Air Forces.

Dassault Aviation Group, founded in 1929 by Marcel Dassault (formerly known as Marcel Bloch) and headquartered in Paris, France, grew from the devastation of World War II (1939-1935) into one of Europe's leading airlines. In 1952, the French government needed a new lightweight supersonic interceptor to counter the threat of Soviet nuclear bombers and fighter jets. Dassault responded with their "Mystere-Delta 550" (MD 550) concept, which used a single-seat twin-engine delta wing plane and a single vertical tail. Power for the aircraft is provided by 2 British Armstrong Siddeley MD30R Viper afterburning turbojets, supplemented by rocket motors. The M.D.

550 completed its maiden flight on June 25, 1955.

Mirage 5 is a related offshoot of the Mirage IIIE series, developed by Dassault to meet Israel's sunny/ground attack requirements. The prototype first flew on May 19, 1967, with its extended nose cone (with a simplified radar setup) serving as a single-seat all-weather strike platform. Ultimately, 582 such examples were made and used in France, Belgium, Egypt, Pakistan, and several other countries.

Due to French policy preventing the Mirage 5 from entering Israel, the Israeli Mirage III was developed internally as the excellent "Kfir". In service with the French Air Force, the Mirage 5 was the Mirage 5F.

The Belgian Mirage 5 was produced locally, and many Mirage 5 customers eventually saw the introduction of modern avionics.

The Phantom 50 became a multipurpose variant with the SNECMA Atar 9K-50 engine, while the Phantom 5 airframe was rebuilt. A prototype exploded in 1979, justifying the design. Key to the model is the integration of a head-up display (HUD), an advanced radar system and improved flight dynamics (such as the use of canards).

The collection is offered in modern form under the name Mirage 50M.

The Mirage IIIV is an alternate form of the Mirage III, developed as a heavily redesigned variant for use as NATO's Vertical Takeoff and Landing Fighter (VTOL). However, the type was never accepted by NATO services and two examples were built, the first flying in February 1965.

The current operators of Mirage III are Argentina and Pakistan. Countries such as France, Australia, Egypt and Venezuela have since abandoned Mirage III in favor of more modern alternatives, or been forced to cut their budgets.

South Africa developed the French design for the Atlas Denell "Cheetah". Belgian Mirage III is known as SABCA "Elkan".

One of the main reasons for the global success of the Mirage III series is that it was used by the Israel Defense Forces during the Six Day War in 1967 and became a certified combat platform. Israel's widely publicized success against the enemy MiG cemented the model's position on the world market, which in turn boosted Dassault's sales.

While the type's delta-wing configuration allowed it to turn slowly, the fighter excelled in other key areas, making it an invaluable commodity in the Israeli Air Force's inventory at the time.