Dassault Mirage III, 5 and 50

he classic Dassault Mirage III Mach 2 delta – winged tighter was first flown in prototype form on 17 December 1956. Production of 1,422 Mirage Ills, Mirage 5s and Mirage 50s continued until 1992. Most early Mirage UIC interceptors have been withdrawn, as have most Mirage NIB trainers, although a few remain in use as testbed and research e’rcraft,

The multi-role Mirage HE fighter (end equivalent Mirage HID trainer! was flown in 1961 and intro­duced provision for an AN52 nuclear bomb. France received 183 (plus 20 equivalent IIIBE trainers! which remained in defence-suppression and con­ventional attack roles until late 1993. The Armee de Г Air also received 70 Mirage IlIRs with camera nose (including 20 Mirage IlIRDs with Doppler navi­gation). All have now been supplanted by the Mirage F1CR. Mirage Ills are still in service in Argentina (Mirage ІІЇЕА and Mirage IIIDA), Brazil (upgraded Mirage IIIEB and Mirage HIDB snown locally as the F-103E/F-103D). Pakistan (ex – Australian Mirage IIIOs, ex-Lebanese Mirage IIIBLs and a variety of oTher second-hand aircraft sourced via Dassault and Switzerland (upgraded Mirage HIS, Mirage IIIRS and Mirage IIIDS). Both Brazil and Switzerland have fitted their Mirages with canards.

Pakistan has a large and varied fleet of Mirage It I and Mirage 5 variants, including this Mirage IIIDP trainer acquired from Dassault.

Brazil maintains a single squadron of upgraded Mirage HIE air defence aircraft, operated by 1° Esq ‘Jaguares’ based at Anapolis.

In 1966, a simplified (non-radar) attac< version of the Mirage III was developed as the Mirage 5. The Mirage 5D trainer and camera-nosed Mirage 5R are related variants. The original simp ified aircraft later became available with an ever-greater range of avionics options, including the re-introduction of lightweight radars. The Mirage 50 first flew in April 1979 and introduced the Mirage FI’s Atar ЭК-50 engine endowing better field performance, faster acceleration, a larger weapon load and improved manoeuvrability.

Current operators include Argentina (Mirage 5), Chile (Mirage 5 and Mirage 50), Colombia (Mirage 5), Congo (Mirage 5), Egypt (Mirage 5). Gabon (Mirage 5), Libya (Mirage b), Pakistan (Mirage 5), Peru (Mirage 5), the United Arab Emirates (Mirage 5) and Venezuela (Mirage 5Ql. Argentina’s aircraft are a mix of IAI-built Finger’ (upgraded Mirage 5s) and locally-upgraded Mara’ aircraft. Chile’s Mirage 60s have been upgraded by ENAER to Pantera standard, while the FACh also operates upgraded former-Belgian Mirage 5 Elkans. Peru’s Mirage 5P3/P4 aircraft have been upgraded with new on-board systems (such as an RWR and a laser range-finder), while Venezuela’s Mirage SOEV/DVs have been fitted with canards.