The Mirage III was not the first delta-wing aircraft. But when talking about this wing
design, it comes to mind first. The Mirage III and its derivatives proved themselves
in many battles as the most successful delta wing combat aircraft of aviation history.
They were the real MiG killers. Now, we are investigating the Mirage III, one of the most
fearsome Western jet fighters of the First Cold War.
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We could say that the Mirage III was the most successful European jet fighter during the
First Cold War. It proved itself repeatedly against the Soviet-made aircraft. In the 1960s,
Dassault became the most challenging competitor of the US aviation companies with its Mirage
III. The story of this success actually goes back
to the 1930s. A significant strategic mistake made in those years would pave the way for
the French aviation industry to become a shining star in the jet age.
During the interwar period, army and navy development programmes had the lion share
of the French defence budget. So, Paris decided to acquire the fighters
from the USA instead of investing aviation industry. France had accepted to fall behind
other aircraft producer countries in the market. Of course, in 1940, the French lost against
the Germans because of its wrong tactics, not its inferior aircraft. But, before that,
they had already lost their title as one of the leading aircraft designers.
After the Second World War, France dedicated itself to not repeat this mistake. The French
aviation industry rose from the ashes by using the German engineers and studying their early
projects. France was now one of the pioneers of the jet era.
As of the 1950s, France began to study delta-wing design like many other countries.
At that time, it was a new trend. Alexander Lippisch's basic aerodynamic calculations
on the delta wing structure, which had been completed in the early 1930s, were promising.
This design was narrowing down the aircraft’s front profile and provided a wider underwing
area. Thus, since the drag was minimised at high altitudes, control became easier.
In 1952, the French Air Force required a new jet fighter with mission capability at 18,000-metre
altitude and supersonic speed. Three national aviation companies, Dassault,
Sud-Est, and Sud-Ouest, began to work for this requirement with MD.550 Delta, SE.212
Durandal and SO.9000 Trident, respectively. The future winner of this programme, Dassault,
began its work with the tailless M.D.550 Mystere-Delta. The tailles design caused some major control
problems. But, the delta wing profile was successful.
The company developed a new small aircraft, called Mirage I. This delta wing aircraft
had two turbojet engine and one rocket engine, as well as a vertical control surface. Yet,
Mirage I was too small to carry the useful payload. So, Dassault decided to build an
enlarged variant of this aircraft, called Mirage II.
Nevertheless, the company abandoned this programme and began to work on a more advanced Mirage
III design. The main reason to switch to the Mirage III
project was the new developments in the engine technology.
The previous aircraft were twin-engined. Also, they needed an additional rocket engine to
climb high altitudes. But, Snecma's new afterburning turbojet engine,
called Atar, was providing more thrust singly. It was more economically feasible. Using one
engine was decreasing the empty weight. Thus, the aircraft was gaining a higher payload
capacity. The prototype of the Mirage III made its first
flight on November 15, 1956. In October 1960, the first major production
model of the aircraft, Mirage IIIC, performed its maiden flight.
It reached operational level one year later. The Mirage IIIA was the pre-production variant.
The Mirage IIIB was a two-seat tandem trainer version that did not have radar and internal
gun. The single-seat C was an interceptor. The
Mirage IIIC was similar to the A variant, but it was nearly half a meter longer because
it was equipped with advanced radar. The Mirage IIIE was a multirole/strike variant.
It performed its first flight in 1961. This was followed by the Mirage IIIR, the
reconnaissance variant of the series, which had five OMERA cameras.
The E version of the Mirage III had a length of 15.03 metres, a wingspan of 8.22 metres,
and a height of 4.25 metres. Its wing area was 34.85 square metres. The empty weight
of the aircraft was 7,050 kilograms, while its maximum takeoff weight was 13,700 kilograms.
One Snecma Atar 9C turbofan engine provided a maximum speed of Mach 2.1. The cruise speed
of the Mirage IIIE was 956 kilometres per hour. It could climb an altitude of 18,000
metres with a rate of climb of 152 metres per second. The aircraft could reach a range
of 4,000 kilometres. The Mirage IIIE's combat radius was 630 kilometres. The aircraft had
two DEFA 552 internal guns. It could carry the AIM-9, R530 air-to-air missiles, Exocet
AM39, AS30, AS37 air-to-surface missiles, as well as rocket pods and different types
of bombs. There were some notable derivatives of the
Mirage III. The Mirage III was the first operational fighter
built in Europe to exceed the speed of Mach 2.
It required complex technology at that time. This naturally caused repair/maintenance difficulties
and high operational costs. Therefore, many users of the aircraft, especially
Israel, requested a simplified variant of the Mirage III from Dassault.
Thus the Mirage 5 was born. This aircraft had higher ground attack capability and fuel
capacity than its predecessor. It performed its first flight on May 19, 1967.
But, one year later, the Israeli-French relationship brook. In 1969, Israeli aviation company,
IAI, began to develop an unlicensed copy version of the Mirage 5, called Nesher. This aircraft
was identical to the Mirage 5 except for its Israeli-built avionics and a Martin-Baker
zero-zero ejection seat. Also, it could carry Israeli-made weaponry, including the Shafrir
air-to-air missile. The Nesher performed its first flight in 1971.
Another important Israeli derivatives of the Mirage III was the Kfir. This aircraft had
one General Electric J79-J1E turbojet of the F-4 Phantom II.
To fit the Kfir with the new powerplant, the Israeli engineers shortened and widened the
rear of the fuselage. Also, they enlarged the air inlets and fit
another inlet under the tail. Against the extreme heat caused by the afterburner,
the engine was encased in a titanium heatshield. As we mention in our Eurofighter Typhoon video,
a more powerful engine and delta wing design coupled with canards made the Kfir much more
superior fighter against the MiG-21, whose NATO reporting name is Fishbed.
Many countries have followed these design criteria for their new aircraft development
programmes later. Similarly, South African rebuilt its Mirage
III with the technical assistance of Israel. This version, called Cheetah, was introduced
in 1985. This derivative had canards, two additional
pylons at the wing roots, an aerial refuelling capability, new ejection seats, and Atar 9K50C-11
turbojet engine of the Mirage F1. Both Kfir and Cheetah had advanced avionics,
radar, and electronic warfare systems. Some other Mirage user upgraded their aircraft
to a different level. For example, the ROSE upgrade packages were
applied on the Mirage III and Mirage 5 of the Pakistan Air Force.
Yet, no users of Mirage III did not prefer the Milan and Mirage 3NG modernization programmes
of Dassault. Also, there were two experimental vertical
takeoff and landing variants of the Mirage III, called Balzac V and Mirage IIIV.
Colombia, Ecuador, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are the current users of Mirage III and its
derivatives. Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile,
Egypt, France, Gabon, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Peru, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, United
Arab Emirates, Venezuela, and Zaire are former uses.
Before we began to talk about the Mirage III's combat experiences, we should note that it
became a pain in the neck for the US reconnaissance aircraft from time to time.
In 1963, an Israeli Mirage IIICJ forced a US RB-57 overflying Israel to land at Lod
Airport. Also, the French sources claim that a Mirage
IIIE, equipped with a SEPR 841 or 844 rocket motor, managed to intercept a US U-2, which
was flying over the French nuclear sites, in 1967.
Of course, the most successful user of the aircraft was Israel. The Israeli Air Force's
Mirage IIIs gained their first aerial victory on November 29, 1966, by shooting down two
Egyptian MiG-19s. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, 48 Arab aircraft
fell victim to Mirages. The Israeli Air Force used this aircraft for
the surprise attack on Egyptian airfields. But, its ground attack performance was considered
moderate. The Mirage IIIs were one of the major trump
cards of the Israeli Air Force during the War of Attrition. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War,
they shot down approximately 250 Arabian aircraft, while Israel lost only 26.
In this war, an Israeli Mirage III also shot down a KSR-2 cruise missile whose NATO reporting
name is AS-5 Kelt. Before the Yom Kippur War, Egypt and Libya
had acquired some Mirage 5s. So, Israelis painted large yellow triangles
surrounded by a thick black frame on their aircraft's wing to avoid misidentification
errors. In this war, the Mirages of both sides fought
each other. And the skills of the pilots decided the fate. The Israeli Neshers shot down at
least two Arab Mirage 5s. During these wars, it was seen that the Mirage
III had clear superiority over the MiGs in horizontal manoeuvres.
The early MiG-21 variant operating by the Egyptian Air Forces did not have an integrated
gun. Besides, the K-13 air-to-air missile, whose
NATO reporting name is AA-2 Atoll, was inferior to its Western counterparts.
The Israeli pilots used these advantages efficiently. The performance of the Libyan Mirage 5s was
also bad in the 1977 Egyptian–Libyan War. Although there is no official confirmation,
the independent sources claim that Libya lost six to 20 Mirages in this war.
Also, two to four Libyan Mirage 5 were shot down by the Chadian shoulder-launched air
defence missiles. The Pakistan Air Force used their Mirages
only in ground attack missions without lost during the 1971 Indo-Pak War.
Actually, the Mirage III was a flying air defence battery. It was designed to repeat
a certain cycle: takeoff quickly, climb to high altitudes, launch its missile, return
to base, and resupply. It was not suitable for a war on the vast
lands of South-West Africa. So, after a short time, the South African Air Force began to
use its Mirage IIIs for protecting the airfield and reconnaissance missions. One South African
Mirage IIIRZ was shot down over Angola in 1979, and another one suffered damage by an
SA-7 sin 1981. Because of their short range, the Argentine
Air Force could not use its Mirage IIIs efficiently during the 1982 Falkland War. They could remain
in the combat zone only for five minutes. Over the South Atlantic, one Mirage III was
shot down by the British Harrier. Another aircraft fall victim to friendly fire.
The Argentine Air Force also had the Neshers, which were called the Dagger.
During the war, these aircraft managed to damage HMS Antrim destroyer and HMS Ardent,
HMS Arrow, HMS Brilliant, HMS Broadsword, HMS Plymouth frigates of the Royal Navy.
But, the cost of this success was very high. Nine Argentine Daggers were shot by Sea Harriers,
one by Sea Wolf missile launched from HMS Broadsword, and another by the ground-based
Rapier. The Mirage's most recently fought in the 2019
Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes. In this attack conducted by the Pakistan Air Force, the aircraft
served as a bomber. Although it continues to defy time, the Mirage
III and its derivatives are now tired warriors. We will no longer see this aircraft in the
skies soon, which is an iconic hero with its delta wing. These veterans will wait for us
in aviation museums to tell their glorious war stories. The legendary Mirage III, a true
MiG killer, will never be forgotten. Thanks for watching our video. And please
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