Dassault Mirage


Mirage is a name given to several types of jet aircraft designed by the French company Dassault Aviation, some of which were produced in different variants. Most were supersonic fighters with delta wings. The most successful was the Mirage III in its many variants and derivatives, which were widely produced and modified both by Dassault and by other companies. Some variants were given other names, while some otherwise unrelated types were given the Mirage name.

Early prototypes

  • MD550 Mystère Delta, the original Dassault experimental delta jet, which provided the baseline for the main Mirage series. Two were built, later renamed Mirage I and II respectively:
  • * Mirage I, the MD550-01 renamed.
  • * Mirage II, the MD550-02 renamed.

    Mirage III/5/50 series

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.

France

The main production variants include:
Minor projects and prototypes include:
Israel produced several progressive developments of the Mirage 5:
  • IAI Nesher, a standard Mirage 5 with revised avionics.
  • IAI Kfir, re-engined with further revised avionics and canard foreplane.
  • IAI Nammer, again re-engined with further revised avionics and canard foreplane. Prototype only.

    Pakistan

Pakistan acquired a number of used Mirage IIIs and 5s, manufactured variously in France and Australia.
South Africa upgraded its fleet of Mirage IIIs to meet local requirements:
Chile upgraded its fleet of Mirage 50s to meet local requirements:

Production models