(better not to to start [USER=138]@Archibald[/USER] over this one. Ooops, too late !)
It was unaffordable to France alone, unfortunately. An interesting POD might be, circa 1973 the Deal of the Century fractures before it starts: Belgium agree to buy Mirage F1-M53. Dassault did their best, but revelations about Mirage V corrupt bargains rightly infuriated Belgians and then Netherlands stepped in and the rest, as they say, is history).
Whatever, the Mirage F1-M53 moves forward but ACF is still canned as unaffordable.
The Mirage F1-M53 then pulls a Rafale two decades before and starts replacing the bulk of Armée de l'Air and French Navy fast jet fleet, a production run of 600 airframes.
With the F1-M53 well on track however on December 18, 1975 at the Elysée palace Marcel Dassault manage to corner Président VGE into buying a handful of his new Mirage 4000 as a replacement for the Mirage IVA in the 80's, with the ASMP ramjet missile. Dassault ensure Giscard Iraq and Saudi Arabia are very interested; their exports orders will help paying the bill. Dassault decisive argument however is that European countries are looking for a whole new venture beyond the Tornado, for air defence rather (hint: yes, Rafale & Typhoon have roots as early as 1976-77 !)
This picks Giscard curiosity and interest and he agress for a limited production run of two-seats Mirage 4000. The counterpart is that Dassault is forced to drop the Mirage 2000 since it would duplicate the F1-M53; the F1 massive economies of scale from a huge order will help funding the 4000 squadrons.
