Dassault Mirage 5
The Dassault Mirage 5 is a French fighter-bomber derived from the Mirage IIIE at Israel's request: Israeli pilots asked Dassault to strip out the radar and avionics normally carried behind the cockpit and use the freed space for extra fuel, favouring range and simplicity for ground-attack sorties over the all-weather intercept role. First flown in May 1967, it is recognisable by its longer, slender nose and gained two extra weapons pylons for a total of seven, raising maximum warload to 4,000 kg. Export success followed, with 582 built across many customer-specific avionics fits, and the type's lineage led directly to Israel's own IAI Kfir and Nesher derivatives.
Did you know?
Israel's locally upgraded Mirage 5, built after a French arms embargo cut off supply, and later exported to Argentina for the Falklands War.
Specifications
| Length | 15 m (49 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 8.2 m (27 ft) |
| Height | 4.5 m (15 ft) |
| Crew | 1 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 16.2 t |
| Range | 700 NM (1,296 km) |
| Maximum speed | 1,250 kt (2,315 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 55,000 ft (16,764 m) |
| Optimum ceiling | 36,000 ft (10,973 m) |
| Rate of climb | 16,400 ft/min (83.3 m/s) |
| Fuel capacity | 7,200 l |
| Engines | 1x SNECMA Atar 9C |
| Units built | 39 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Dassault Mirage 5 starts as a Very rare catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you.
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