Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III is a French supersonic Fighter Aircraft designed in the late 1950s by the Dassault Aviation . It was a successful fighter aircraft and some Mirage III and it ' s variants are still being used by various airforces in the world . Description . The Mirage III , launched in 1958 , was the result of several studies and developments during the 50 years , with the aim of producing a high - speed aircraft . The Mirage III first flew on 17 November 1956 and in 1960 became the first fighter to exceed Mach 2 in Western Europe . The first production version was the Mirage - IIIC , which entered service in December 1961 . Was quickly released a version of attack ( Mirage - IIIE ) and recognition ( Mirage - IIIR ) . The price of the Mirage - III was kept very competitive , especially since the Dassault kept the same cell for all versions of the aircraft , but also because the most famous feature of the Mirage , the delta wing , helped o tensure a lesser cost . This low cost , allowed to put the Dassault Mirage in various countries . Derivatives . Mirage 5 / Mirage 50 . The next major variant , the Mirage 5 , grew out of a request to Dassault from the Israeli Air Force . The first Mirage 5 flew on 19 May 1967 . It looked much like the Mirage III , except it had a long slender nose that extended the aircraft ' s length by about half a metre . The Mirage 5 itself led directly to the Israeli Nesher , either through a Mossad ( Israeli intelligence ) intelligence operation or through covert cooperation with AdA , depending upon which story is accepted . ( See details in the Nesher article ) . In either case , the design gave rise to the Kfir , which can be considered a direct descendant of the Mirage III . Milan . In 1968 , Dassault , in cooperation with the Swiss , began work on a Mirage update known as the " Milan " ( " Kite " ) . The main feature of the Milan was a pair of pop out foreplanes in the nose , which were referred to as " moustaches " . The moustaches were intended to provide better take - off performance and low - speed control for the attack role . The three initial prototypes were converted from existing Mirage fighters and had fixed canards referred to as " moustaches " . One of these prototypes was nicknamed " Asterix " , after the internationally popular French cartoon character , a tough little Gallic warrior with a huge moustache . A fully equipped prototype rebuilt from a Mirage IIIR flew in May 1970 , and was powered by the uprated SNECMA Atar 09K - 50 engine , with 70 . 6 kN ( 15 , 900 lb ) afterburning thrust , following the evaluation of an earlier model of this new series on the one - off Mirage IIIC2 . The Milan also had updated avionics , including a laser designator and rangefinder in the nose . A second fully equipped prototype was produced for Swiss evaluation as the Milan S . The canards did provide significant handling benefits , but they had drawbacks . They blocked the pilot ' s forward view to an extent , and set up turbulence in the engine intakes . The Milan concept was abandoned in 1972 , while work continued on achieving the same goals with canards . Mirage 3NG . Mirage III fitted with canardsFollowing the development of the Mirage 50 , Dassault had experimented with yet another derivative of the original Mirage series , named the Mirage 3NG ( " Nouvelle Génération " , next generation ) . Like the Milan and Mirage 50 , the 3NG was powered by the Atar 9K - 50 engine . The prototype , a conversion of a Mirage IIIR , flew in December 1982 . The 3NG had a modified delta wing with leading - edge root extensions , plus a pair of fixed canards fitted above and behind the air intakes . The canards provided a degree of turbulent airflow over the wing to make the aircraft more unstable and so more maneuverable . Avionics were completely modernized , leveraging off the development effort for the next - generation Mirage 2000 fighter . The Mirage 3NG used a fly - by - wire system to allow control over the aircraft ' s instabilities , and featured an advanced nav / attack system ; new multimode radar ; and a laser rangefinder system . The uprated engine and aerodynamics gave the Mirage 3NG impressive performance . The type never went into production , but to an extent the 3NG was a demonstrator for various technologies that could be and were featured in upgrades to existing Mirage IIIs and Mirage Vs . After 1989 , enhancements derived from the 3NG were incorporated into Brazilian Mirage IIIEs , as well as into four ex - " Armée de l ' Air " Mirage IIIEs that were transferred to Brazil in 1988 . In 1989 , Dassault offered a similar upgrade refit of ex - AdA Mirage IIIEs under the designation Mirage IIIEX , featuring canards , a fixed in - flight refueling probe , a longer nose , new avionics , and other refinements . A total of 1 , 422 Mirage III / 5 / 50 aircraft of all types were built by Dassault . There were a few unbuilt variants : Balzac / Mirage IIIV . Main articles : Dassault Mirage IIIV and Dassault Balzac V One of the 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 . Mirage III ROSE . Project ROSE ( Retrofit Of Strike Element ) was an upgrade programme launched by the Pakistan Air Force to upgrade old Dassault Mirage III and Mirage 5 aircraft with modern avionics . In the early 1990s the PAF procured 50 ex - Australian Mirage III fighters , 33 of which were selected after an inspection to undergo upgrades . In the first phases of Project ROSE the ex - Australian Mirage III fighters were fitted with new defensive systems and cockpits , which included new HUDs , MFDs , RWRs , HOTAS controls , radar altimeters and navigation / attack systems . They were also fitted with the FIAR Grifo M3 multi - mode radar and designated " ROSE I " . Around 34 Mirage 5 attack fighters also underwent upgrades designated " ROSE II " and " ROSE III " before Project ROSE was completed . The Mirage III / 5 ROSE fighters are expected to remain in service with the PAF until replacement in the mid - 2010s .