When we talk about the legendary Mirage series, we generally think about the beautiful delta-wing
combat aircraft. But, the swept-winged child of this family, the Mirage F1, has also proved
itself to be worthy of this legacy. Now, we are investigating the Mirage F1, the unordinary
member of the Mirage family. Before we start, we congratulate our narrator on his second
child. This video is dedicated to our newborn. Please don't forget to subscribe to our channel,
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our channel. The Mirage F1 is one of the legendary fighters
of Dassault. It successfully fought in three continents and managed to make a name for
itself. The story of the Mirage F1 began in the early 1960s when both aviation technologies
and air combat doctrines evolved to the next step.
The early radar and missile technologies used on the second-generation fighters were primitive,
so to say. But in the 1960s, they grew in maturity to some degree. So, many countries
began to work on new combat aircraft, which incorporated these technologies.
These works paved the way for the born of the third generation, one of which was the
Mirage F1. Besides, the developing technologies forced
the change of air combat concepts. Since the early 1960s, the high altitude bombers
had already begun to lose their effectiveness against the ground-based radar and air defence
networks. The new strike aircraft were now flying under
the radar coverage to avoid them. The early examples of the jet interceptor
had been designed for high altitude interception missions. But, the air forces of the world
now needed a low altitude interceptor. When the French Air Force demanded the development
of a new fighter, which incorporated new technologies and was suitable for the new concepts, Dassault
was the most sound address. Thanks to its tailless delta wings design,
the previous Mirage III had a superior high altitude performance. But, this design also
caused a high approach and landing speed, which were not suitable for low altitude strike
and interception missions. So, In 1963, the French Air Force demanded
a new all-weather combat aircraft for missions at low altitudes. It would also be suitable
for use on short runways with limited equipment, at an approach velocity of fewer than 260
kilometres per hour, in other words, 140 knots. To answer this demand, Dassault designed the
two-seat Mirage F2 ground attack/fighter aircraft, which had a high-mounted swept wing and horizontal
tail surfaces. But in 1966, France’s announced withdrawal
from NATO’s integrated military organization, and the French Air Force’s priority shifted
to an air defence aircraft. However, the Mirage F2 was a large and heavy
aircraft with a low thrust/weight ratio. Therefore, the company began to work on the single-seat
Mirage F3, which was a scaled-down version of the Mirage F2.
Because the French Air Force now demanded the development of a two-engine swept-wing
fighter, this aircraft was never completed. The fruit of this programme, the Mirage G,
would perform its maiden flight in 1967 but not reach the serial production stage.
The constantly changing demands of the French Air Force caused great confusion and delays.
But, Dassault had a more practical approach. In 1964, Dassault had already begun work on
a Mirage F3-based aircraft for export as a private venture.
It was a single-seat aircraft with a sweptback wing aircraft equipped with a SNECMA Atar
9K jet engine. The new fighter, which would be named the Mirage F1, was a smaller version
of the Mirage F2 and Mirage F3. Soon, France decided to fund this programme.
The first prototype, equipped with an interim SNECMA Atar 9K-31 jet engine, made its first
flight on December 23, 1966. In the same year, the French Air Force officially adopted the
programme. But in 1967, during a low-altitude high-velocity pass, the horizontal stabilizers
of this prototype broke away, and the aircraft struck the ground. Despite this fatal accident,
France ordered three pre-production aircraft with the Atar 9K-50 jet engine.
After the cancellation of the Mirage G programme, the Mirage F1 became the only option for the
French Air Force as the future replacement of its Mirage III fleet.
The first production model made its first flight on February 15, 1973. One year later,
the Mirage F1 was introduced to the French Air Force's service.
Thanks to high-mounted swept wings, in a typical interception mission, the Mirage F1s could
take off from a distance of 640 metres and land to a distance of 610 metres.
These were nearly half of the Mirage III's. Also, this wing design allowed to increase
internal fuel capacity and combat radius accordingly. The Mirage F1 was equipped with the Thomson-CSF
Cyrano IV monopulse radar, which operated in air-target acquisition and tracking, ground
mapping, and terrain avoidance modes. The later variants of the aircraft received the
Cyrano IV-1 model of the radar, which provided for a limited look-down/shoot-down capability.
The capabilities of the radar made the aircraft a multi-role fighter.
The first production model of the Mirage F1 was the C variant, which was an interceptor.
The second batch of the Mirage F-1C was 0.07 meters longer than the first batch. This model,
called Mirage F1C-200, also had a fixed refuelling probe.
The Mirage F1B was a two-seat operational conversion trainer. Due to adding the extra
seat and controls, this variant was 0.3 meters longer. Still, the Mirage F1B had less internal
fuel capacity, and it had no internal cannon. The Mirage F1A was a single-seat ground-attack
fighter with a limited air-to-air combat capability. The aircraft had the lightweight EMD AIDA
2 ranging radar instead of Cyrano IV. This variant was also fitted with a laser rangefinder
under the nose and a retractable refuelling probe.
The Mirage F1E was the multi-role variant of the family, and its two-seat training version
was the Mirage F1D. The Mirage F1CR was the reconnaissance variant.
These basic Mirage F1 variants also had export sub-models, which had minor differences.
The Mirage F1 M53 was developed for participation in the European NATO fighter competition of
the early 1980s as the replacement of the F-104G.
But, it lost the contest to the F-16. There are also many upgraded variants of the
aircraft. For example, the Mirage F1CT had a radar upgraded with the additional air-to-ground
modes of the Cyrano IVM-R. It was fitted with an improved navigation/attack system and a
laser rangefinder under the nose. The aircraft had improved radar detection and warning devices,
chaff/flare dispensers, and secure radios. Also, its ejection seat was replaced with
an advanced one. The upgraded Mirage F1 MF2000 ASTRAC variant
of the Royal Moroccan Air Force has the same avionics as the Mirage 2000. Its RC400 radar
can detect a target with a radar cross-section of 5 square meters from a range of 100 kilometres.
This modernized variant can also fire many modern French air-to-air and air-to-ground
munitions. Some sources claim that Iran is now equipping
its Mirage F1s with a locally developed radar. Congo, Gabon, Iran, and Morocco are the current
users of aircraft. Ecuador, France, Greece, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait,
Libya, Qatar, South Africa, and Spain retired their Mirage F1s.
The single-seat variant of the Mirage F1 has a length of 15.3 metres, a wingspan of 8.4
metres, and a height of 4.5 metres. Its wing area is 25 square metres. The empty weight
of the aircraft is 7,400 kilograms, while its maximum takeoff weight is 16,200 kilograms.
One 70.6 kiloNewton SNECMA Atar 9K-50 after-burning turbojet engine provides a maximum speed of
Mach 2.2. The aircraft has a ferry range of 3,300 kilometres. The Mirage F1's combat radius
is 425 kilometres. It can climb an altitude of over 20,000 metres, in other words, 66,000
feet. The aircraft has two 30mm DEFA 553 guns and seven hardpoints with a capacity of 6,300-kilogram
ordnance. The Mirage F1 can carry the R550 Magic, Super 530F, AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air,
AS-30L air-to-surface, and AM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles, as well as rocket pods and bombs.
Especially in the 1980s and the early 1990s, the Mirage F1 made a name with its busy and
successful combat carrier. During the 1984 Manta Operation, four Mirage
F1C-200s of the French Air Force provided air cover for the Jaguars. They were also
used for ground attack missions against Libya-backed Chadian groups.
Two years later, during Operation Épervier, the French Mirage F1s were redeployed to Chad.
Four of them provided air cover for the Jaguars during the air raid against the Libyan airbase
at Ouadi Doum. Also, the Mirage F1CRs performed pre and post-strike
reconnaissance missions. In the 1991 Gulf War, the Mirage F1CRs of
the French Air Force performed bombing, targeting and reconnaissance missions in 114 sorties.
During the 2004 Operation Licorne, they responded to an Ivorian air attack upon the French garrison
and destroyed two Su-25 aircraft and three helicopters at Yamoussoukro Airport.
The French Mirage F1s also conducted critical strike and reconnaissance missions in Afghanistan,
Libya, and Mali, just before their retirement. Some Libyan Mirage F1s survived the 2011 First
Libyan Civil War and NATO intervention. But, the last four of them were destroyed on the
ground or shot down in 2019. In the 1981 Paquisha War, the Ecuadorian Mirage
F1s prevented the Peruvian Air Force from conducting effective air operations over the
region. In the 1995 Cenepa War, the Ecuadorian Mirage
F1s shot down two Peruvian Su-22s. We should note that according to the official Peruvian
declaration, one of these aircraft were lost because of anti-aircraft gunfire and the other
accident. Some sources claim that, during the Iran-Iraq
War, the Iranian F-14s and F-4s shot down a total of 35 Iraqi Mirage F1s.
In return, Iraq claims that the Mirage F1s shot down at least 35 Iranian aircraft, including
two F-14s. Also, during the Tanker War, the deadly combination
of the Mirage F1 and Exocet missile put fear in the hearts of many ship captains on the
Persian Gulf. In addition, on September 14, 1983, an Iraqi
Mirage F1 shot down a Turkish Air Force F-100F Super Sabre in the Iraqi airspace.
In the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqi Mirage F1s could not be used effectively against the
massive allied air force. At the beginning of the war, 24 of them fled
to Iran. Later, many of them were destroyed on the
ground while the US and Saudi F-15s shot down at least eight Mirage F1s.
On January 17, 1991, an EF-111A was able to shoot down an Iraqi Mirage F1 while performing
evasive manoeuvres. The South African Mirage F1s shot down at
least two Angolan MiG-21s and one Mi-8. But after the arrival of the MiG-23s piloted
by the Cuban, they began to avoid aerial combat. Because of the UN arms embargo, South Africa
could not afford to lose the valuable assets of the air force unnecessarily.
Also, the Cuban pilots did not want to fight to the death for Angola.
So, the air skirmishes over the region were not intense.
In one dog fight, a Mirage F-1 was hit, but the aircraft managed to return the base. Also,
there were some South African attempts, which were unsuccessful due to the failure of the
air to air missiles. The main enemy of the South African Mirage
F1s were air-to-surface missiles. Another important user of the Mirage F1, Morocco,
lost at least seven of them. These aircraft were the victims of the Polisario Front's
air defence systems. But, the most surprising but less known event of the Moroccan Mirage
F1s happened over the Atlantic. On January 17, 1980, a Moroccan patrol boat stopped a
Spanish fishing boat near Western Sahara. So, the Spanish Navy sent SPS Almirante Ferrandiz
destroyer to the region. After that, a Moroccan Mirage F1 fire warning
shoots on the destroyer. Fortunately, this bold action did not cause a more intense conflict.
When we look at its past, we can easily see that the Mirage F1 was a significant figure
in the many air forces' history. Before the era of the 4th generation fighters began,
it was one of the most feared adversaries in the sky. As a multi-role fighter, the aircraft
gained many aerial victories, and it also became a nightmare for ground troops and ships.
Its success on the battlefield and international market made the Mirage F1 a true legend.
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