page_title: The Australian–French Mirage Deal
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Australian–French Mirage Deal / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Dassault Mirage III A3-92 on display at the RAAF Museum.
context_page_description: The Australian-French Mirage Deal was a transaction between the French and Australian governments which lead to the procurement of the French designed fixed wing jet aircraft, the Mirage III, for the Royal Australian Air Force. In the late 1950s the Australian government announced its intention to modernize its airforce with state of the art technology and the French manufacturing company Dassault won the bid over the American Lockheed when the Australian government agreed to buy over 100 Mirages at an estimated cost of AUS$193.7 million in the early 1960s.
context_section_description: The first Mirage III flew in 1956 after a period of development by General Aeronautique Marcel Dassault (GAMID) leading to a significant rise in French defence exports in the next two decades, placing France as the world’s third largest defence supplier by 1971. As one of the largest deals contributing to France’s export success, the deal with Australia had a significant impact on French foreign policy, increasing the country’s influence as it succeeded to compete with the two global powers of the Cold War. The deal was equally significant for Australia which, during the 1950s, had not yet decided on an aircraft to replace the outdated CAC-27 Avon Sabre.
  On the 4th of April 1957 the Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies said in his defence statement.
  “Our present planning and preparations are proceeding on the basis of an operational contribution to allied strategy of highly trained men armed with the most modern conventional weapons and equipment.”
  Their American allies in the Vietnam War lent on them heavily to choose the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter making the choice of the French aircraft highly unexpected, especially since the French government was opposed to the war. Mirages entered service in the RAAF in 1965 and were used in a front-line role by seven RAAF units. The first 50 were built under the classification of Mirage IIIO(F) to serve in the interceptor role. The rest were designated IIIO(A) and equipped to serve in the ground attack role. The main additions of this modification were a coat of camouflage paint and the installation of the Cyrano IIB Doppler radar and altimeters. When the last 10 were ordered in 1970 the Australian Government asked for two seated versions for training purposes. The specification was enabled by the removal of the Cyrano radar to make room for a second cockpit behind the original and the transferal of the avionics system to the nose. This purchase cost 11 million and allowed the final decommission of the old Sabre trainers.
  By June 1969 all of the original Mirage IIO(F) aircraft were modified to ground attack specifications. The last of the Mirages were decommissioned in 1988 and placed in storage up until 1990 when they were sold to Pakistan. The Mirage was not only the longest serving fighter in RAAF history, it was also the first RAAF aircraft to be able to fly at double the speed of sound.
  Mirage A3-92 entered RAAF service on the 26th of July 1968 with 3 Squadron, 79 Squadron and 77 Squadron serving at Williamtown airbase in New South Wales and at Butterworth, Malaysia during the Malayan Emergency. It was kept after the end of Mirage service in the RAAF as a training aid at the RAAF School of Technical Training at Wagga Wagga and is now displayed at the RAAF Museum.
caption: A3-92 Mirage kept at the RAAF Museum
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