Early Mirage III competitors (1953-1956)

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Archibald

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The Mirage III was the winner of a competition for a multirole, mach 2 fighter. Its only two competitors were the rocket-powered Trident II, and the Durandal which was quite similar to the Mirage, with a frontal air intake.
The Trident was eliminated as too specialised, and the Durandal because of its frontal air intake and weak low-level performances.

But these three aircrafts were realised for an earlier competition, a supersonic lightweight fighter. In fact it was to be the high-altitude complement of the NATO lightweight fighters (Fiat G.91, Etendard II IV VI, Breguet 1001 / 1100 TAON, SE-5000 Baroudeur).

Here are the Mirage III ancestors, Mirage 01/I and Mirage II.
The Durandal and Trident were the competitors.

Three other projects never went off the drawing board
- Morane-Saulnier MS-1000
- SNCAN (Nord) -5000 Harpon
- Breguet Br.1002

The pictures come from "les avions de combat francais 1945-1960 Chasseurs" by Jean Cuny. (I noticed that the pictures are signed JMC, and I'm quite sure its Jean Marie Carbonel :) )
 

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Archibald said:
The Mirage III was the winner of a competition for a multirole, mach 2 fighter. Its only two competitors were the rocket-powered Trident II, and the Durandal which was quite similar to the Mirage, with a frontal air intake.
The Trident was eliminated as too specialised, and the Durandal because of its frontal air intake and weak low-level performances.

But these three aircrafts were realised for an earlier competition, a supersonic lightweight fighter. In fact it was to be the high-altitude complement of the NATO lightweight fighters (Fiat G.91, Etendard II IV VI, Breguet 1001 / 1100 TAON, SE-5000 Baroudeur).

Here are the Mirage III ancestors, Mirage 01/I and Mirage II.
The Durandal and Trident were the competitors.

Three other projects never went off the drawing board
- Morane-Saulnier MS-1000
- SNCAN (Nord) -5000 Harpon
- Breguet Br.1002

The pictures come from "les avions de combat francais 1945-1960 Chasseurs" by Jean Cuny. (I noticed that the pictures are signed JMC, and I'm quite sure its Jean Marie Carbonel :) )
Click to expand...
Hello,
I apologize, but I do not share this view.

First of all, the famous program for "Intercepteurs légers" (light interceptors) was lauched by Technical Services, with a specification from French Air Force General staff. The official competitors were:
- SNCASE SE.212 Durandal
- SFECMAS 1405 Gerfaut II
- SNCASO SO.9050 Trident II
- Dassault MD.550 Mystère-Delta

and also some projects:
- Nord 5000 Harpon (after the fusion of Arsenal/SFECMAS into Nord Aviation, the Gerfaut was preferred for the program and Harpon project was cancelled)
- Morane-Saulnier MS.1000
- Breguet 1002
- Leduc 040. NB: for administrative and budget reasons, the Leduc 022 was later attached to the program, despite the fact that it was not designed in this objective.

2 prototypes of each selected competitor were ordered. Nord-Aviation transformed the second Gerfaut into Nord 1500 Griffon and the MD.550 were respectively renamed as Mirage I and Mirage II.
The winner was clear: the SO.9050 Trident II, far behind all his competitors. The chief of "Services Techniques" Paul Combes signed a contract for 20 pre-series (I personnally interviewed him some years ago).

Dassault on his side, as his prototype lost, proposed an alternative to the program and obtained the authorization to take the wings of the Mirage II in construction and he changed the body to embed a radar in the nose. His idea was to demonstrate the superiority of an autonomous interceptor to the "Light interceptor" concept, guided from the ground by a radar station.
This prototype was designated "Mirage III". It was also nicknamed "Balzac" because of its s/n 001 that recalled a popular advertising from Jean Mineur, presented before each movie with their phone call number "Balzac 0-0-0-1".
Finally, the General staff was impressed by Mirage III capability and asked the Minister to cancel the Light Interceptor program. The Trident II and III under manufacturing were directly scapped while the first pre-series were used for rocket training by CEV pilots. The Gerfaut II was also used by the EPNER school for training purposes. SNECMA used the 2 Durandal as engine test benches. Leduc 022 and Griffon continued few months to explore ramjet technology, but stopped soon after.

As a conclusion: the winner of the program is the Trident, not the Mirage.
The Mirage III was not develop to cover any program, it's a private initiative against the official programs.
 
Last edited:
No problem, please excuse the exuberance of my youth, back in 2006... dang, I've posted on this forum for almost 20 years.

The Mirage III was not develop to cover any program, it's a private initiative against the official programs.
Click to expand...

Yes. Just like the F1 in 1967 and the 2000 in 1975. Which is nothing short of baffling. Dassault was kinda smarter than the Armée de l'Air RFPs - fiches programmes.
More to the point, he seemingly knew better what was affordable, and what was not (twin jets, heavy fighters: Phantom, F-111, F-15 class ).

The F1 has the craziest story of them all. Between the VSTOLs, the VGs, and its own bigger brothers: the F2 and the F3.
 
Archibald said:
No problem, please excuse the exuberance of my youth, back in 2006... dang, I've posted on this forum for almost 20 years.
Click to expand...
I did not realize that this topic was so old. I am new in this forum and I explore it. I learn a lot and I try to provide additional information about various topics when I can.
 
Your contribution is very appreciated @PhR so please keep posting. We don't mind resurrecting old topics at all, but we might also find people have changed their opinions in almost 20 years. I've certainly learned a lot in that time!
 

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