Dassault



 Two-seat fighter trainer

History

Dassault Mirage III, certainly the most famous French fighter built after WW2, will remain one of the florets of the French aircraft industry as regards fighters.

DASSAULT Mirage III, certainly the most famous French fighter built after the WW2, will remain one of the florets of the French combat aircraft industry.
The genesis of Mirage III goes back to 1951, when a team of DASSAULT's engineering and design department works on an interceptor equipped with a delta wing. Learning the lessons from the Korean War, the Armée de l'Air emitted, during the year 1953, a programs concerning a fighter able to carry all-weather armaments to the altitude of 18000 m in less than 6 mn. Twin-jet aircraft prototypes MD.550 Mystère Delta (2 Armstrong-Siddeley Viper turbojets of 795 kg thrust and one SEPR.66 booster of 1500 kg thrust) and Mirage I (2 MD30R turbojet of 1000 kg thrust with afterburning) don't allow to reach the performance desired by the Armée de l'Air de l'Air, DASSAULT company decide then to make evolve the delta formula to a new single engined aircraft (SNECMA Atar 9 of 4500 kg thrust with afterburning) and of which the fuselage answer with law of surface (the famous size of wasp). This plane, the Mirage III 001, first flew on November 17, 1956 by Roland Glavany and reached Mach 1.24 during the 4th flight, December 3. The aircraft does not manage nevertheless to reach Mach 2 (Mach 1,89 with booster on October 2, 1957, during the 84th flight). It is in particular thanks to the adoption of central mobile conical cores in the air intake (mice) that Roland Glavany reaches Mach 2, for the 1st time in Western Europe, on the Mirage III A01, October 24, 1958. Thereafter, many alternatives rose from the Mirage III, of which Mirage III B.

This version intended for training and pilots improvement was designed parallel to the interception version Mirage III C. The prototype flew on October 20, 1959, in Melun-Villaroche, controlled by Rene Bigand. Compared to basic Mirage III C, its fuselage is lengthened to allow the installation of a second pilot who occupies the volume of the radioelectric compartment. The equipment is placed in the nose which, so does not contain any more a radar.


Production

Final assembly and in-flight settings are ensured at Mérignac factory.
76 specimens of Mirage III B were produced, including 56 for the Armée de l'Air.
First production Mirage III B accomplishes its test flight on July 19, 1962.


Career

The 56 aircrafts taken charges by the Armée de l'Air were distributed in the following way:

26 Mirage III B standard, in service in the 2nd, 13th and 33rd fighter squadrons, and to the CEAM in Mont-de-Marsan.
10 Mirage III B-RV in service in CIFAS 328 in Bordeaux-Mérignac for the in-flight refueling training.
20 Mirage III BE equipped with Marconi-Doppler system for the 2cd fighter squadron.
5 Mirage III B1 with a more significant electronics moreover were delivered to the CEV.


Export

Mirage III B was adopted by the majority of the users of Mirage III C:

3 Mirage III BZ for South Africa.
4 Mirage III BJ for Israel.
2 Mirage III BL for Lebanon.
6 Mirage III BS for Switzerland.

Technical features
Wingspan	8,22 m
Length	14,45 m
Height	4,25 m
Wingarea	34,85 m2
Empty weight	5370 kg
Max weight	10200 kg
Max speen	Mach 2 (2450 km/h)
Climb	12000 m en 3 mn
Ceiling	29500 m
Operational ceiling	8000 m
Range	1000 km
Turbojet	1 SNECMA Atar 9B of 4250 kg thrust and 6000 kg with afterburning
Basic Armament	Possibility of assembly a frame with 2 30 mm DEFA 552 cannons

CAEA's specimen

Mirage III B of the C.A.E.A., the number 204, was delivered to the Armée de l'Air on December 4, 1962; it was used in Dijon and mainly with the CIFAS 328 in Bordeaux-Mérignac. It was reformed on March 5, 1987 after 5197 hours of flight and, with a value estimated at 37.8 MF (5.76 M Euros), it joined the C.A.E.A. in May 1988 or it will undergo a cure of youth there (painting). Visible in the hangar

Mirage III C

Back to Collection

Mirage 5 F