PIERRE BREGERIE COLLECTION
No. 12401. Dassault Mirage III C (8 c/n 8) French Air Force
Photographed at base aérienne 118, Mont-de-Marsan, France, 1963, by Pierre Bregerie

Dassault Mirage III C
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06/30/2014. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "Essentially an extrapolation of the Mirage I and retaining the 5% thickness/chord ratio 60° delta wing, the Mirage III was substantially larger and some 30% heavier. It was powered by a SNECMA Atar 101G-1 turbojet with an afterburning thrust of 9,700 lb (4,400 kg) and had provision for a 3,307 lb (1,500 kg) SEPR 66 rocket. First flown on November 17, 1956, the prototype attained 1,127 mph (1,814 kmh) at 38,060 ft (11,600 m) during its sixth flight on January 30, 1957. After the installation of the SEPR rocket motor and introduction of manually-operated half-cones in the air intakes, the speed of 1,335 mph (2,148 kmh) was reached on September 19, 1957.

A pre-series of ten Mirage III As was ordered, these having a 17.3% increase in wing area, a reduction in root thickness/chord ratio to 4.5% and an Atar 09B engine with an afterburning thrust of 13,230 lb (6,000 kg). Equipped with a 3,307 lb (1,500 kg) thrust SEPR 84 rocket (which could provide 3,704 lb/16,80 kg at extreme altitude), the first Mirage III A flew on May 12, 1958, this model eventually attaining 1,631 mph (2,625 kmh), and the tenth and last joined the test program on December 15, 1959. One pre-series Mirage III A was fitted with a 16,000 lb (7,258 kg) st Rolls-Royce Avon 67 as the prototype Mirage III O for Australian evaluation and first flew on February 13, 1961, but the Avon installation was not produced.

The Mirage III B and III C were respectively two-seat trainer and single-seat interceptor fighter production derivatives, the first example of the latter flying on October 9, 1960. The Mirage III C was powered by an Atar 09B-3 and a SEPR 841 rocket, and carried an armament of two 1.18 in (30 mm) cannon, which, for a typical intercept rnission, was augmented by a single Matra R 511 and two AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs.

The Frensch AF received 95 Mirage III Cs, one Mirage III CS was delivered to Switzerland, 72 Mirage III CJs to Israel and sixteen Mirage III CZs to South Africa. In December 1982, nineteen Mirage III CJs, all re-engined with Atar 9C turbojets, were transferred from Israel to Argentina where some remained in service in the early 1990s as the last of the IIIC sub-type of the Mirage.

The aircraft shown above was the eight Mirage III C produced and was pictured while used by the C.E.A.M. (Centre d'Expériences Aériennes Militaires, military flight test center) which was (and still is) based at base aérienne 118 (air base 118) "Colonel Rozanoff" of the Armée de l'air (Air Force). Subsequently the aircraft served with EC 2/2 (Escadron de Chasse, Fighter Squadron) "Côte-d'Or" at base aérienne 102 at Dijon-Longvic, coded "2-FB". By April 1983 it was preserved at Bruz."

The following data relate to the Mirage III C.

Created June 30, 2014