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Air Power |
Within a year of the Mirage III entering service with the French air force, Dassault-Breguet was developing a successor. The Mirage F1 has 40 per cent more internal fuel than the Mirage III and a better wing design that improves maneuverability and enables it to take off from shorter runways.
Following on the Mirage F-2, which was a revival of the classic arrow-wing design with stabilizers, the Mirage F-1 is a defense and air superiority single-seater plane. This revival was made possible by technological advances which permit manufacture of ultra-thin but robust wings, enabling at supersonic speeds flight performance equivalent to that of delta wings. The integrity of the fuselage structure allows the aircraft to carry a maximum amount of fuel.
The wings are high-mounted, swept-back, and tapered. Missiles are usually mounted at the wing tips. There is one turbojet engine in the body. There are semicircular air intakes alongside the body forward of the wing roots. There is a single exhaust. The fuselage is long, slender, pointed nose and a blunt tail. There are two small belly fins under the tail section and a bubble canopy. The tail is swept-back and tapered fin with a blunt tip. The flats are mid-mounted on the fuselage, swept-back, and tapered with blunt tips.
The Mirage F-1 prototype made its maiden flight with René Bigand at the controls, 23rd December 1966, at Melun-Villaroche (the Seine-et-Marne region of France).
The French air force ordered the Mirage Fl for its interceptor squadrons, and the first F1s entered service in 1973. The Fl proved a very popular export, with over 500 of them sold abroad in the first 10 years of production. More than 700 Mirage F-1's have been sold to some 11 countries. The Dassault Mirage F-1C was the standard French fighter before Mirage 2000 entered service in the air force in 1984. The Mirage Fl has seen combat in the Persian Gulf, where Iraqi Mirage F1s played an important role in the attacks on tankers during the late 1980s. There are several versions now operational - all-weather interceptors, fighter-bombers and dedicated reconnaissance aircraft.
Specifications:
Country of Origin: France
Builder team: Dassault Aviation, SNECMA, Thomson-CSF
Role:
Mirage F1 CT - Close Air Support (CAS) / attack / fighter
Mirage F1 CR - Tactical reconnaissance / fighter
First flight: November 1981 / 1992 for the new weapons system (F1 CT version)
In-service in French Air Force: 1983
Crew: one / trainer--two
Power plant: SNECMA Atar 9K50 jet engine / 4.7 t and 6.8 t with afterburner
Dimensions:
Length: 49 ft (14.94 m) 15.33 m
Span: 27 ft, 7 in (8.4 m)
Height: 4.50 m
Weights: 8.1 t empty / 15.2 t maximum at takeoff
Performance :
Ceiling: 52,000 ft [20,000 meters ?]
Maximum speed: Mach 2.2
Cruise range: 1160 nm
In-Flight Refueling: Yes
Internal Fuel: 3435 kg
Fuel capacity: 4,100 l internal / 6,400 l maximal / In-flight refuelling
Payload: 6300 kg
Sensors: Cyrano IVM radar (-200 has IWMR), RWR
Drop Tanks:
1160 L drop tank with 927kg of fuel for 157nm of range
2300 l drop tank with 1837kg of fuel for 310nm of range
Armaments:
2 30mm DEFA 553 cannon
2 Matra Magic R550
free fall and parachute drag bombs
All photos Copyright of Global Security.Org