Mirage IIIDS HB-RDF
Year built
1982
Aircraft
Mirage IIIDS
Base
Payerne Air Base
This exact Mirage was constructed as a Mirage IIIDS in 1982 and taken on on strength with the Swiss Air Force with serial number J-2012 on the 18th of May 1983. During its time in the Swiss Air Force, the J-2012 flew with the Flieger Staffel 16 and once retired it was stored until 2004. In September 2004 it was placed on display at the Payerne Air Base where it remained for a year. In 2005 J-2012 was sold to Musee de lAviation Militaire de Payerne where it was restored back to an airworthy condition and received a civilian registration HB-RDF. After 4 years of restoration, J-2012 flew with the first passenger on September 16th 2008.
Unfortunately, due to the age of the engine and certain parts, the flight permit by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation, the Swiss civil aviation agency, was no longer extended. The entire 2023 flight campaign including passenger flights and air displays was thus cancelled ending the 15 years of private Mirage III operations in Europe. The French Luxeuil Air Show 2021 was the last opportunity to see the HB-RDF fly at an airshow.
The Clin d'ailes Payerne has been granted a one-day exemption to fly the Mirage one final time. On the 25th of May, the HB-RDF performed the last two farewell flights before being permanently grounded and is now on permanent static display.
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Dassault Mirage IIIDS
The Dassault Mirage III is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizontal flight, a feat which was achieved on October 24 1958, the English Electric Lightning achieving it on November 25 1958.
In 1952, the French government issued its specification, calling for a lightweight, all-weather interceptor. Amongst the respondents were Dassault with their design, initially known as the Mirage I. Following favourable flight testing held over the course of 1954, in which speeds of up to Mach 1.6 were attained, it was decided that a larger follow-on aircraft would be required to bear the necessary equipment and payloads. An enlarged Mirage II proposal was considered, as well as MD 610 Cavalier (3 versions), but was discarded in favour of a further-developed design, powered by the newly developed Snecma Atar afterburning turbojet engine, designated as the Mirage III. In October 1960, the first major production model, designated as the Mirage IIIC, performed its maiden flight. Initial operational deliveries of this model commenced in July 1961; a total of 95 Mirage IIICs were obtained by the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air, AdA). The Mirage IIIC was rapidly followed by numerous other variants.
The Mirage III was produced in large numbers for both the French Air Force and a wide number of export customers. Prominent overseas operators of the fighter included Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and Israel, as well as a number of non-aligned nations. Often considered to be a second-generation fighter aircraft, the Mirage III experienced a lengthy service life with several of these operators; for some time, the type remained a fairly manoeuvrable aircraft and an effective opponent when engaged in close-range dogfighting. During its service with the French Air Force, the Mirage III was normally armed with assorted air-to-ground ordnance or R.550 Magic air-to-air missiles. Its design proved to be relatively versatile, allowing the fighter model to have been readily adapted to serve in a variety of roles, including trainer, reconnaissance and ground-attack versions, along with several more extensive derivatives of the aircraft, including the Dassault Mirage 5, Dassault Mirage IIIV and Atlas Cheetah. Some operators have undertaken extensive modification and upgrade programmes of their flights, such as Project ROSE of the Pakistan Air Force.
The Mirage III has been used in active combat roles in multiple conflicts by a number of operators. The Israeli Air Force was perhaps the most prolific operator of the fighter outside of France itself; Israel deployed their Mirage IIIs in both the Six-Day War, where it was used as both an air superiority and strike aircraft and the Yom Kippur War, during which it was used exclusively in air-to-air combat in conjunction with the IAI Nesher, an Israeli-built derivative of the Mirage 5. Ace of aces Giora Epstein achieved all of his kills flying either the Mirage III or the Nesher. During the South African Border War, the Mirage III formed the bulk of the South African Air Force's fleet, comprising a cluster of Mirage IIICZ interceptors, Mirage IIIEZ fighter-bombers and Mirage IIIRZ reconnaissance fighters; following the introduction of the newer Mirage F1, the type was dedicated to secondary roles in the conflict, such as daytime interception, base security, reconnaissance and training. The Argentine Air Force used the Mirage IIIEA during the Falklands War, but their lack of an aerial refuelling capability limited the aircraft's usefulness in the conflict. Even using drop tanks, the Mirages only had an endurance of five minutes within the combat area around the British fleet.
In 1961, Switzerland purchased a single Mirage IIIC from France for use as a development aircraft to support the nation's intentions to domestically produce 100 Mirage III fighters for the Swiss Air Force. Accordingly, Mirages were manufactured in Switzerland by F+W Emmen (today RUAG, the federal government aircraft factory in Emmen) under the Mirage IIIS designation. The Mirage IIIS was intended to perform the attack, interception, and reconnaissance missions in a single model. However, the venture suffered considerable cost overruns, mainly due to Swiss-mandated customisations and features, this was compounded by a lack of financial oversight, controversy over the manufacturing cost ultimately cumulated in the so-called "Mirage affair" and the resignation of several officials. It became clear that a single model was not capable of the performance desires; thus only 36 Mirage IIIS interceptors and 18 Mirage IIIRS reconnaissance aircraft were eventually produced by F+W Emmen.
The Mirage IIIS was with considerably strengthened wings, airframe, and undercarriage as the Swiss Air Force had required robustness comparable to that of carrier-based planes. The reinforced airframes enabled aircraft to be moved by lifting them with a crane (hence the airframes also being fitted with four lifting points, retractable nosecones and lengthened nosewheel legs), as the aircraft caverns in the mountains that Swiss Air Force uses as bunkers offer very little space to manoeuvre parked aircraft. Another benefit of the strengthened frames was the enabling of JATO-assisted takeoffs, giving the type a short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability.
Other major differences were present on the Swiss-built interceptors. It was furnished with new American-sourced avionics along with a different cockpit design, including a Hughes Aircraft Company-built TARAN-18 radar system and could be armed with the AIM-4 Falcon air-to-air missile (Swiss designation of the SAAB Licence built Robot 27 (Rb27), which is similar to the Hughes AIM-26 "Falcon"). Radar warning receivers (RWR) were installed upon both wingtips and on the back of the rudder. In addition, the Mirage IIIS had the wiring to carry a Swiss-built or French-built nuclear bomb. In the event, the programme to produce a Swiss nuclear bomb was stopped in the pre-production stage and Switzerland chose not to purchase such weapons from France either. The Mirage IIIRS could also carry a centerline pod for conducting photo reconnaissance missions, as well as an integral fuel tank underneath the aft belly; this tank could carry a smaller fuel load but also allowed for a rear-facing film camera to also be added. When fitted with the reconnaissance pod, supersonic performance was severely diminished.
The Mirage IIIS could be optionally fitted with a SEPR (Société d'Etudes pour la Propulsion par Réaction) 841 rocket engine with its 300 l (79 US gal; 66 imp gal) nitric acid oxidiser tank. It was installed under the rear of the fuselage on a removable adaptor; it could be removed and a similar-shaped fuel tank installed instead. The SEPR rocket enabled the Mirage IIIS to reach an altitude of 24,000 m with its additional thrust of 1500 kp; the rocket motor could be switched off and restarted a maximum of three times during a flight and had a maximum running time of 80 seconds. In an emergency, the rocket engine could be jettisoned at low flight speeds. The rocket fuel (TG-02) was very hazardous and highly toxic, requiring special buildings for maintenance to be built in Buochs and Payerne and personnel involved in its handling to wear special protective suits; accordingly, the rocket motor was not used often.
In 1967, the Mirage IIIS entered operational service with the Swiss Air Force; the Mirage IIIRS followed two years later. After an upgrade programme started in 1988, canards designed and produced by RUAG Aerospace were fitted to the type, along with Martin-Baker-built ejection seats. Defensive measures included a TRACOR AN/ALE-40 chaff/flare dispenser positioned at the back under the end of the engine, first fitted following upgrades in 1988. In 1999, Switzerland phased out the last of its Mirage IIIS fleet; the remaining Mirage IIIRS, BS and DS variants were taken out of service in 2003.
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