Dassault Mirage III

The Mirage III (French pronunciation: [miʁaʒ]) is a supersonic fighter aircraft designed by Dassault Aviation during the mid-1950s, and manufactured both in France and a number of other countries.

The versatility of the design enabled production of trainer, reconnaissance and ground-attack versions as well as the Dassault Mirage 5 variant. It was a successful fighter aircraft, being sold to many air forces around the world and remaining in production for over a decade. Currently, the Pakistan Air Force is the largest operator of Mirage III fighters, with 75 aircraft still in service.

The Mirage III family grew out of French government studies began in 1952 that led in early 1953 to a specification for a lightweight, all-weather interceptor capable of climbing to 18,000 m (59,040 ft) in six minutes and able to reach Mach 1.3 in level flight.^{[citation needed]}

Dassault's response to the specification was the Mystère-Delta 550, a diminutive and sleek jet that was to be powered by twin Armstrong Siddeley MD30R Viper afterburning turbojets, each with thrust of 9.61 kN (2,160 lb_f). A SEPR liquid-fuel rocket motor was to provide additional burst thrust of 14.7 kN (3,300 lb_f). The aircraft had a tailless delta configuration, with a 5% chord (ratio of airfoil thickness to length) and 60 degree sweep.^{[citation needed]}

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