Dassault Mirage IIIC

In 1953, the French Air Force initiated a program for a fighter aircraft capable of reaching Mach 1.3 and 15,000 m altitude in 4 minutes. Dassault proposed the MD 550 Mystère Delta, a twin-engine aircraft equipped with a delta wing and a SEPR rocket engine. The first prototype flew in June 1955, reaching Mach 1.6 with the rocket engine. In 1956, it was renamed Mirage, and an optimized model (MD 550-03) became the Mirage III, integrating a SNECMA Atar engine and a wing conforming to the law of areas.

The first flight of the Mirage III took place in November 1956. In 1957, improved air intakes made it possible to reach Mach 1.8. The Mirage IIIA, pre-production version, was born in May 1958, becoming the first European aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in October 1958. The ten prototypes participated in various tests, allowing rapid technological advances.

The Mirage III C is an interception version, operational from 1962, equipped with a Cyrano I radar and various weapons, but subject to reliability problems.

This program marks a major advance for European aeronautics, the Mirage III becoming a world reference in supersonic fighters.