Dassault Mirage F1

The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French air-superiority fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation as a descendant of the Mirage III family. The Mirage F1 entered service in the French Air Force (Armée de l’Air) in the early seventies. Powered by a single SNECMA Atar turbojet providing about 7 tonnes-force of thrust, the F1 has been used as a light multipurpose fighter and has been exported to about a dozen nations. More than 720 F1s have been produced.

Dassault designed the Mirage F1 as a private undertaking, using its own funds, as a descendant to its Mirage III and Mirage 5 fighters, with the F1 being a smaller version of the Mirage F2 being developed for the French Air Force. It was of similar size to the delta-winged Mirage III and V, and was powered by a SNECMA Atar 9K turbojet as used in the Dassault Mirage IV, but contrasting to its predecessors, it shared the layout of a swept wing mounted high on the fuselage and a conventional tail surface as used by the F2. Although it has a smaller wingspan than the Mirage III, the F1 all the same proved to be advanced to its ancestor. It can carry up to 43% more fuel, has a shorter take-off run and better maneuverability.

The first prototype made its first flight on 23 December 1966. Despite the prototype crashing on 18 May 1967 due to flutter, killing its pilot, an order for three prototypes was placed on 26 May 1967, the larger and more expensive F2 being abandoned.

In order to obey the French Air Force’s requirement for an all-weather interceptor, the first production Mirage F1C was equipped with Thomson-CSF Cyrano IV monopulse radar. The later Cyrano IV-1 version added a restricted look-down capability. However Mirage F1 pilots reported that the radar can easily overheat, reducing its competence. First deliveries to the French Air Force took place in May 1973, entering squadron service with EC 2/30 Normandie-Niemen in December that year. Initially, the aircraft was armed with two internal 30 mm cannons, and a single Matra R530 medium-range air-to-air missile carried under the fuselage.

It was replaced after 1979, when the improved Matra Super 530 F entered into service with the French Air Force. In 1977, the R550 Magic was released. The F1 has these missiles mounted on rails on the wingtips. Around the same time, the American AIM-9 Sidewinder became part of the Mirage F1′s armament, after the Spanish and Hellenic Air Forces requested integration of the Sidewinder on their own Mirage F1CE and CG fighters. The 79 aircraft of the next production run were delivered during the period March 1977 to December 1983. These were of the Mirage F1C-200 version with a fixed refueling probe, which required an extension of the fuselage by 7 cm.

The Mirage F1 served as the main interceptor of the French Air Force until the Dassault Mirage 2000 entered service. French Air Force Mirage F1s were first deployed operationally in 1984 during Operation Manta, the French intervention in Chad, to counter growing Libyan encroachment. Four Mirage F1C-200s provided air cover for a force of four Jaguars, and took part in skirmishes against the pro-Libyan GUNT rebels.

In 1986, French Mirage F1s returned to Chad, as part of Operation Epervier, with four F1C-200s providing fighter cover for a strike package of eight Jaguars during the air raid against the Libyan airbase at Ouadi Doum, on 16 February. Two F1CRs also flew pre and post-strike reconnaissance missions.

It is planned that sometimes in the future 2/33s elderly F1CRs will be replaced by Rafales fitted with an advance reconnaissance pod. The Rafale’s range, maneuverability and combat load is far superior to the F1CR that it replaces—e.g. after the Rafale’s pod has taken photos they can almost instantly be transmitted back to its base or where the photos are needed that has the down link equipment.

Dassault Mirage F1 has been used by 13 air forces, with 8 of them still using it (including France). Out of these, 3 air forces have been European (2 still operating F1), 1 South American (still using it), 5 Middle Eastern (with 2 still flying the aircraft), and 4 African (3 still operating it).

Specifications

Crew: 1
Length: 15.30 m (50 ft 2½ in)
Wingspan: 8.40 m (27 ft 6¾ in)
Height: 4.50 m (14 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 25.00 m² (269.1 ft²)
Empty weight: 7,400 kg (16,314 lb)
Loaded weight: 10,900 kg (24,030 lb) (clean take-off weight)
Max. takeoff weight: 16,200 kg (35,715 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × SNECMA Atar 9K-50 afterburning turbojet
Maximum speed: Mach 2.2 (2,338 km/h, 1,262 knots, 1,453 mph) at 11,000 m (36,090 ft)
Combat radius: 425 km (230 nm, 265 mi) hi-lo-hi at Mach 0.75/0.88 with 14 × 250 kg bombs
Ferry range: 3,300 km (1,780 nmi, 2,050 mi)
Endurance: 2 hr 15 min (combat air patrol, with 2 × Super 530 missiles and centreline drop tank)
Service ceiling: 20,000 m (65,600 ft)
Rate of climb: 243 m/s (47,835 ft/min) at high altitude

Armament
Guns: 2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA 553 cannons with 150 rounds per gun
Hardpoints: 1 centreline pylon, four underwing and two wingtip pylons with a capacity of 6,300 kg

(13,900 lb) (practical maximum load 4,000 kg (8,800 lb)) and provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets: 8× Matra rocket pods with 18× SNEB 68 mm rockets each
Bombs: various

Other: reconnaissance pods or Drop tanks

Missiles: 2× AIM-9 Sidewinders OR Matra R550 Magics on wingtip pylons, 2× Super 530Fs underwing, 1× AM-39 Exocets anti-ship missile, 2× AS-30L laser-guided missiles