Dassault Mirage III
One of the most interesting offshoots of the Mirage III/5/50 fighter family tree was the
Mirage IIIV vertical take-off and landing (
VTOL) fighter. ("IIIV" is read "three-vee," not "three-five"). This aircraft featured eight small vertical
lift jets straddling the main engine. The Mirage IIIV was built in response to a mid-
1960s NATO specification for a VTOL strike fighter.
The ROSE program was launched by the French SAGEM to upgrade the Pakistan Air Force's Mirage III & 5 series. The upgradings took place in three stages - ROSE-I, ROSE-II, and ROSE-III. Under the ROSE-II program many of PAF's Mirage III & 5 aircraft were upgraded with digital cockpits, while under ROSE-III some Mirage 5s were upgraded with digital cockpit and an unnamed radar - allowing the aircraft to carry the French
MBDA MICA missile. No Mirage III aircraft have gone through the ROSE-III upgrade, as its future is uncertain in the PAF with the induction of JF-17 Thunder nearing. The Mirage 5, however, received the upgrades because of their maritime role.
In 2005 Paris Show, one of the PAF's ROSE-III upgraded Mirage 5s made an appearance.
*
The Complete Book Of Fighters, by William Green and Gordon Swanborough, Smithmark Books, 1994. This provided the original seed for this document.
*
VTOL Military Research Aircraft, by Mike Rogers, Haynes Publishing, 1989. This fascinating book gave some useful details on the Balzac and Mirage IIIV vertical take-off variants of the Mirage.
*
The Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft, edited by David Donald & Jon Lake, Barnes & Noble, 2000.
* "Mirage III/5/50 Variant Briefing", by Paul Jackson,
World Air Power Journal, volumes 14, 15, and 16.
* "Atlas Cheetah" by Jon Lake,
World Air Power Journal, Volume 27 / Winter 1996, 42:53.
* "Armscor" : Film by Armscor, SABC and Leephy Atlejees, public broadcast SABC Television. 1972, rebroadcast 1982, 1984.
* "Cheetah : Fighter Technologies" in
Archimedes Vol. 12 : June 1987.
The Mirage fighter aircraft series is featured in the popular French comics Tanguy and Laverdure, primarily authored by Jean-Michel Charlier and illustrated by a few different but named illustrators. The two protagonist, Michel Tanguy and Ernerst Laverdure, are two fighter pilots in the French Air Force and member of the elite White Stork Squadron (L'escadrille des cigognes).
In the beginning of their story, they start as two student pilots flying T-33, it's not until their fourth adventure when they finally sit in the cockpit of Mirage IIIC. Later on their fighters are upgraded to Mirage IIIE and the last adventure saw them flying Mirage 2000. Tanguy and Laverdure's adventure preceded Top Gun by at least one generation. Their adventures are full of political intrigues, espionage, and the romance of aviation. Until today there is no English translation of their adventure, aspiring English reader has to learn French to read the originial French comic. However, the comic has been translated into other languages, such as
Indonesian in
Indonesia.
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The Dassault Mirage III/5/50 Series at Vectorsite.net*
Mirage III/5/50 at FAS.org
