Dassault MIRAGE Guide to Mirage Variants

All Copyrights belong to their respective owners.

The Mirage III ‘B’ was the two-seat trainer for the Mirage III ‘C’. It which first flew in October 1959.

The fuselage was stretched about a metre (3 ft 3.5 in) to accommodate the second seat.

Mirage III B

Mirage IIIB-1 : Trials aircraft. Mirage IIIB-2(RV) : Inflight refuelling training aircraft for Mirage IV force. Mirage IIIBE : based on Mirage IIIE for the French Air Force, similar to the Mirage IIID. Mirage IIIBJ : Mirage IIIB for Israeli Air Force. Mirage IIIBL : Mirage IIIBE for Lebanon Air Force.Mirage IIIBS : Mirage IIIB for the Swiss Air Force. Mirage IIIBZ : Mirage IIIB for the South African Air Force.

Mirage III C

The first major production model was the Mirage III ‘C’, first flew in October 1960. it was based on the prototype version III ‘A’.

The IIIC was a single-seat interceptor with a total of 95 Mirage IIICs operated by the French air force until 1988

Mirage IIICJ : Mirage IIIC for the Israeli Air Force, Mirage IIICZ : Mirage IIIC for the South African Air Force.Mirage IIIC-2 : Conversion of French Mirage IIIE later re-converted to Mirage IIIE.

The Mirage III ‘D’ was the two seat trainer for the Mirage III ‘E’.

Mirage IIID: Two-seat training aircraft for the RAAF. Built under licence in Australia; 16 builtMirage IIIDA: Two-seat trainer for the Argentine Air Force. Two supplied 1973 and a further two in 1982.Mirage IIIDBR: Two-seat trainer for the Brazilian Air Force, designated F-103D. Four newly built aircraft delivered from 1972. Mirage IIIDBR-2: Refurbished and updated aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force, with more modern avionics and canard foreplanes. Mirage IIIDE: Two-seat trainer for Spanish Air Force. Six built with local designation CE.11.Mirage IIIDP: Two-seat trainer for the Pakistan Air Force. Five built.Mirage IIIDS: Two-seat trainer for the Swiss Air Force. Two delivered 1983.Mirage IIIDV: Two-seat trainer for the Venezuelan Air Force; three built.Mirage IIIDZ: Two-seat trainer for the South African Air Force; three delivered 1969.Mirage IIID2Z: Two-seat trainer for the South African Air Force, fitted with an Atar 9K-50 turbojet engine;

Mirage III D

Dassault created a multi-role / strike variant of the Mirage III C’, which became as the Mirage IIIE. The first of three prototypes flew on 1 April 1961.

The Mirage IIIE differed from the IIIC interceptor most obviously in having a 300 mm (12 in) forward fuselage extension to increase the size of the avionics bay behind the cockpit. The stretch also helped increase fuel capacity, as the Mirage IIIC had marginal range and improvements were needed. The stretch was small and hard to notice, but the clue is that the bottom edge of the canopy on a Mirage IIIE ends directly above the top lip of the air intake, while on the IIIC it ends behind the lip.

The first production Mirage IIIE was delivered to the French air force in January 1964, to a total of 192 . Total production of the Mirage IIIE, including exports, was substantially larger than that of the Mirage IIIC, including exports, totalling 523 aircraft.

Mirage IIIEA : Mirage IIIE for the Argentine Air Force. Mirage IIIEBR : Mirage IIIE for the Brazilian Air Force; Mirage IIIEBR-2 : updated IIIEBR aircraft for the Brazilian Air Force, with canard foreplanes. Mirage IIIEL : Mirage IIIE for the Lebanese Air Force.Mirage IIIEP : Mirage IIIE for the Pakistan Air Force. Mirage IIIEV : Mirage IIIE for the Venezuelan Air Force.Mirage IIIEZ : Mirage IIIE for the South African Air Force.

Mirage III E

Single-seat all-weather fighter-bomber aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force. Single prototype powered by 53.68 kN (12,070 lbf) dry thrust and 71.17 kN (16,000 lbf) Rolls-Royce Avon Mk.67 turbojet engine, but order placed for aircraft based on Mirage IIIE, powered by Atar engine in March 1961. 100 aircraft built, of which 98 were built under licence in Australia. The first 49 were Mirage IIIO(F) interceptors which were followed by 51 Mirage IIIO(A) fighter bombers, with survivors brought up to a common standard later.

Mirage III O

Single-seat all-weather reconnaissance aircraft, with radar replaced by camera nose carrying up to five cameras. Aircraft based on IIIE airframe but with simpler avionics similar to that fitted to the IIIC and retaining cannon armament of fighters.

Mirage IIIRD : Single-seat all-weather reconnaissance aircraft for the French Air Force, Mirage IIIRJ : Mirage IIIR the Israeli Air Force. Two Mirage IIICZs converted into reconnaissance aircraft.Mirage IIIRP : Mirage IIIR for the Pakistan Air Force; 13 built.Mirage IIIRS : Mirage IIIR for the Swiss Air Force; 18 built.Mirage IIIRZ : Mirage IIIR for the South African Air Force; four built.Mirage IIIR2Z : Mirage IIIR for the South African Air Force,

Mirage III R

Single-seat all-weather interceptor fighter aircraft for the Swiss Air Force, based on the IIIE. Built under licence in Switzerland;

Many Mirages around the world (except the French ones surprisingly) have been retrofitted with "canard wings" above the intakes. These little wings offer more manoeuvrability to the aircraft as well as reduced landing speed (which on a delta plane is rather high).

Mirage III S

Mirage 5/ 50

The next major variant, the Mirage 5, grew out of a request to Dassault from the Israeli Air Force. The first Mirage 5 flew on 19 May 1967. It looked much like the Mirage III, except it had a long slender nose that extended the aircraft's length by about half a metre. The Mirage 5 itself led directly to the Israeli Nesher. the design gave rise to the Kfir, which can be considered a direct descendant of the Mirage III.

Mirage 5 / 50Mirage 5 : Single-seat radarless ground-attack fighter aircraft. Mirage 5AD : for Abu Dhabi, UAE; Mirage 5EAD : radar-equipped fighter-bomber version for Abu Dhabi.Mirage 5BA : for Belgium, fitted with mainly US avionics; Mirage 5COA : for Colombia. Mirage 5D : ground-attack for Libya;Mirage 5DE : fighter-bomber for Libya.Mirage 5F : for the French Air Force. Mirage 5G : for Gabon. Mirage 5G-2 : upgraded aircraft for Gabon, Mirage 5J : for Israel, but the order was embargoed Mirage 5M : for Zaire;[Mirage 5MA Elkan : Upgraded Mirage 5BA for Chile.Mirage 5P : for Peru; Mirage 5P Mara : Upgraded 5P aircraft for Argentina.Mirage 5P3 : Upgraded aircraft for Peru; Mirage 5P4 : Upgraded aircraft for Peru; Mirage 5PA : for Pakistan. Mirage 5PA2 : New build radar equipped aircraft for PakistanMirage 5PA3 : New build radar-equipped anti-shipping aircraft for PakistanMirage 5SDE : fighter-bomber version for Egypt, equivalent to Mirage IIIE; Mirage 5E2 : attack version for Egypt. 1Mirage 5V : ground attack aircraft 5 for Venezuela; Mirage 5R : Single-seat reconnaissance aircraft. Mirage 5BR : Reconnaissance version of 5BA for BelgiumMirage 5COR : Mirage 5R for ColombiaMirage 5DR : Mirage 5R for Libya; Mirage 5RAD : Mirage 5R for Abu Dhabi, UAE; Mirage 5SDR : Mirage 5R for Egypt; Mirage 5Dx : Two-seat training version. Mirage 5BD : Two-seat trainer version of 5BA for Belgium; Mirage 5COD : Two-seat trainer for Colombia. Ugraded with canards Mirage 5DAD : Two-seat trainer for Abu Dhabi, UAE. Mirage 5DD : Two-seat trainer for LibyaMirage 5DG : Two-seat trainer for GabonMirage 5DM : Two-seat trainer for ZaireMirage 5DP : Two-seat trainer for PeruMirage 5DP3 : Updated trainer for PeruMirage 5DPA2 : Two-seat trainer version of 5 for PakistanMirage 5MD Elkan : Upgraded Mirage 5BD aircraft sold to Chile.Mirage 5SDD : Two-seat trainer for Egypt

Mirage 50 : Mirage 5 ground-attack aircraft, powered by more powerful Atar 9K-50 engine. Mirage 50C : New build radar-equipped Mirage 50 for Chile;Mirage 50FC : Eight re-engined Mirage 5F aircraft sold to Chile.Mirage 50DC : Two-seat training version for Chile. Mirage 50CN Pantera : Mirage 50C and 50FC aircraft upgraded by ENAER with help from the Israeli company IAI for Chile with canards, revised, Kfir style nose Mirage 50EV : Upgraded Mirage 5V aircraft for Venezuela, with Atar 9K-50 engine, canards and updated avionics (including radar).Mirage 50DV : Upgraded Mirage 5DV aircraft for Venezuela, Mirage Project ROSE : An upgraded version for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Project ROSE was started by the PAF in the mid 1980s. These aircraft have avionics, cockpit, airframe and strike elements upgrades. Mirage ROSE 3, the latest version, has an air to air refueling capability and can deploy the nuclear-capable Ra'ad air to ground cruise missile.

The Israel Aircraft Industries Nesher (Hebrew: " ,נשרVulture" - often mistranslated as "Eagle") is the Israeli version of the Dassault Mirage 5 multirole fighter. Most were later sold to the Argentine Air Force as Daggers, and later upgraded as Fingers.

IAI Nesher / Dagger / Finger

The Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir (Hebrew: ְּכִפיר , "Lion Cub") is an Israeli-built all-weather, multirole combat aircraft based on a modified French Dassault Mirage 5 airframe, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-built version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine.

IAI Kfir