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War Thunder. Official channel.
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| 5s | After WW2, the French aircraft industry was in shambles. |
|---|---|
| 9s | One of the key people that made it possible for the industry |
| 11s | to hit its stride once again was an engineer Marcel Bloch. |
| 15s | Aircraft made by his company were used |
| 17s | by pre-war France and even the Vichy government. |
| 20s | After the war, the manufacturer changed its name to Dassault Aviation |
| 24s | and supplied the Fourth Republic with the excellent Ouragan jet fighter. |
| 28s | Naturally, when the military called for a new lightweight fighter/interceptor, |
| 32s | Dassault Aviation was immediately in. |
| 38s | According to the specification issued in 1952, |
| 41s | the government wanted an aircraft with the ability to reach Mach 1.3 in level flight |
| 46s | that could be operated from forward airfields |
| 48s | and could carry air-to-air guided missiles. |
| 51s | Dassault Aviation responded to the specification with the Mystere Delta, |
| 56s | a tailless delta-wing aircraft powered by two turbojets. |
| 60s | During flight testing, though, the prototype failed to clear the bar |
| 63s | set by the government as it only reached Mach 0,95. |
| 67s | The team behind the project spent four long years improving the prototype, |
| 71s | but even the upgraded version, renamed the Mirage I, |
| 74s | was ultimately not accepted into production. |
| 80s | Nevertheless, it wasn’t all in vain. |
| 82s | As a result of the development process, |
| 84s | engineers decided to replace the original delta vertical tail |
| 88s | with swept back surfaces. |
| 90s | Furthermore, they made a decision to outfit the next Mirage with a radar. |
| 94s | But it was the third iteration of the design |
| 96s | that actually made it into production, |
| 98s | the fittingly named Mirage III. |
| 100s | It featured new air intakes, more powerful engines, |
| 104s | and a lengthened fuselage that was now almost 15 meters long. |
| 108s | At high altitudes, this Mirage could reach a speed of around Mach 2 |
| 112s | while still retaining decent maneuverability |
| 114s | thanks to the design of its airframe. |
| 119s | The Mirage III was no slouch in the firepower department as well: |
| 123s | it was armed with a 30-mm DEFA cannon |
| 126s | and could carry Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. |
| 129s | The Mirage IIIC variant also received an on-board radar. |
| 133s | The aircraft was accepted into service in 1961 and immediately established itself |
| 138s | as a go-to multirole fighter of the French Air Force. |
| 142s | Two years later, this version of the Mirage was already used in actual combat. |
| 147s | Aircraft of the series were actively used by Israeli pilots |
| 150s | as the Mirage was a pretty good answer to Soviet bombers and fighters |
| 154s | like the MiG-19 and the MiG-21. |
| 163s | After that, Dassault Aviation started working on the Mirage F1. |
| 168s | The original plan was to develop a variable-geometry aircraft |
| 171s | with vertical take-off and landing capabilities. |
| 174s | Engineers put in a lot of work trying to make it faster and give it more range, |
| 178s | but after initial testing it became clear |
| 180s | that the only way to make the emerging design truly successful |
| 184s | was to abandon some of the untested bleeding-edge features, |
| 187s | including VTOL capabilities. |
| 190s | It was a tough call but it worked: |
| 192s | by implementing a more traditional airframe arrangement |
| 194s | and outfitting the aircraft with powerful engines, |
| 197s | Dassault Aviation created a fast fighter with excellent flying characteristics. |
| 202s | The Mirage F1 saw a lot of action in the Middle East: |
| 206s | for instance, the French aircraft was used in the Iran-Iraq War |
| 209s | where it fought against American F-4s and F-5s used by Iran |
| 214s | and proved to be a decent fighter. |
| 219s | Engineers also kept improving the Mirage III. |
| 222s | In War Thunder, there are several extensive derivatives of the aircraft, |
| 227s | including the Mirage 5, the Nesher, and the Kfir, |
| 230s | the latter two developed by Israel. |
| 232s | As the country was under an arms embargo at the time, |
| 235s | both aircraft were built following technical specifications |
| 238s | obtained by Israeli spies. |
| 241s | The Nesher, meaning “Griffon Vulture”, was an exact copy of the Mirage 5. |
| 246s | The Kfir, meaning “Lion cub”, was fitted with Israeli avionics |
| 250s | and an Israeli-built version of the American General Electric turbojet engine. |
| 258s | The last aircraft of the series was the Mirage 2000. |
| 261s | It retained some design features of its predecessors: |
| 264s | for instance, it’s a tailless delta-wing aircraft. |
| 268s | At the same time, engineers got rid of some of the flaws of the preceding generation |
| 272s | and made it possible for the aircraft to use an even wider range of weapons. |
| 276s | The Mirage 2000 underwent many modifications over the years, |
| 280s | and some of its improved versions are available in War Thunder. |
| 284s | Take a look at the Mirage 2000 C-S5, for example: |
| 288s | it’s a ‘pure-blooded’ fighter jet. |
| 290s | The multirole 2000 D-R1 can carry laser-guided bombs. |
| 295s | The Mirage 2000-5F received upgrades to its onboard equipment |
| 300s | while still retaining the ground attack capability. |
| 302s | Aircraft of the series, once again, saw a lot of action in the Middle East. |
| 307s | They were used in anger in the Persian gulf, in Afghanistan, |
| 311s | and also in Africa’s Sahel region as a part of Operation Barkhane. |
| 319s | In the second half of the 20th century, |
| 321s | the fate of Dassault Aviation was closely intertwined |
| 324s | with the development of the Mirage series. |
| 327s | Now the aircraft of the family are waiting for you |
| 330s | at the higher ranks of the tech tree. |
| 332s | Or, maybe, you already have a favorite Mirage? |
| 335s | Tell us in the comments below. |