Dassault Mirage

Mirage was a name given to several types of jet aircraft designed by the French company Dassault Aviation (formerly Avions Marcel Dassault), some of which were produced in different variants. Most were of delta wing configuration. The most successful was the Mirage III fighter in its many variants, which were widely produced both by Dassault and by other companies. Some Mirage variants were given different names.

Mirage III/5/50 series

Two Mirage III fighters in RAAF colours

The most successful line of Mirages were a family of supersonic delta-winged fighters, all sharing the same basic airframe but differing in powerplant, equipment and minor details. Early examples were tailless, while many later variants had canard foreplanes added.

The main production variants include:

• Dassault Mirage III, definitive production type which established the series.
• Dassault Mirage 5, developed from the Mirage III.
• Dassault Mirage 50, developed from the Mirage 5.

Minor projects and prototypes include:

• Dassault Balzac, Dassault Mirage IIIT and Dassault Mirage IIIV: Prototypes researching supersonic VTOL design. The Balzac and Mirage IIIV both had VTOL capability.
• Dassault Milan: a Mirage III example, modified with retractable foreplanes or "moustaches".

Variants developed by other countries include:

Israel

• IAI Nesher.
• IAI Kfir.
• IAI Nammer.

South Africa

• Atlas Cheetah.

Chile

• ENAER Pantera (Mirage 50CN and 50DC).

Other Mirage types

Production models

• Dassault Mirage IV: Delta-winged tailless supersonic nuclear bomber. Largest of all the Mirages.
• Dassault Mirage F1 and MF2000: Conventional-configuration supersonic fighter.
• Dassault Mirage 2000 supersonic tailless delta-winged successor to the Mirage 50, with an all-new airframe.

Projects and prototypes

• Dassault Mirage I tailless delta prototype, modified and renamed from the Dassault MD550 Mystère Delta experimental aircraft.
• Dassault Mirage II: Design project for a production fighter larger than the Mirage I. Dropped in favour of the even larger Mirage III.
• Dassault Mirage F2 and Dassault Mirage G: Strike fighters, larger than the basic Mirage III airframe. The Mirage G prototypes were variable-geometry "swing wing" aircraft derived from the F2 fixed-wing design project.
• Dassault Mirage 4000 or Super Mirage 4000: Prototype larger version of the Mirage 2000 design.

References

Bibliography

• Green, W. and Swanborough, G.; The Complete Book of Fighters, Salamander, 1994.
• France (III), q-zon-fighterplanes.com (retrieved 11:54, 2 October 2015 (UTC))