Mirage IV - Development
In 1954, to raise the prestige of the country after the defeat in Vietnam and achieve independence of the defense capability from the United States, France officially announced the beginning of the creation of nuclear weapons. Two years went to the development of the corresponding scientific and industrial infrastructure, and in April 1956 the Ministry of Defense announced a competition for the best draft of a strategic bomber - the carrier of the future French nuclear bomb. The military wanted to get a jet with a range of 2000 km, supersonic speed and payload of at least 3000 kg. In the struggle for the order, the firms Syd-West, Nord and Marcel Dassault joined. The first two projects did not differ in depth of study and were more sketches than projects, so the competition was won by Dassault.
The development of the bomber at Dassault was headed by Jean Cabriere. In the basis of the idea of the new aircraft, he put the aerodynamics and design of the twin-engine Mirage II and the single-engine Mirage III, the work on the latter was at the stage of construction of the prototype. If we compare the projected bomber with the Mirage III, then to meet the requirements of the military, the geometric dimensions of the fighter had to be increased by more than 1.3 times, while the wing area almost doubled. The estimated take-off weight of the car reached 25 tons. To raise the plane into the air, a more powerful power plant of two SNECMA turbojet engines, Atar 9V, with afterburner chambers and a thrust of 6,120 kg each was required. The range of action with two suspension tanks was 1500 km.
At the beginning of April 1959, the demonstration of the first prototype of the French strategic nuclear bomber "Mirage" IV took place in the testing center Milan Vilarosh 01. The sharp-nosed silver plane, polished to a mirror finish, produced a stunning impression, without a doubt it was the most elegant "flying triangle" of the entire family of "Mirage".
The first flight took place on July 17, 1959, in the cabin was test pilot Roland Glavany (Roland Glavany). The second time, the "Mirage" IV 01 was lifted into the air by the famous pilot Rene Bigan (Rene Bigand), he actually conducted the entire test cycle of the aircraft. During the eighth flight, "Mirage" easily overcame the sound barrier. In the 33rd flight, the maximum estimated flight speed M = 2 was reached at an altitude of 18,000 m.
Factory tests ended on the 53rd flight. "Mirage" IV 01 transferred to the military in the test center of the Air Force Istres. The flight took place at a speed of 1800 km / h and took 18 minutes. September 19, 1960 on the first plane set a world record of the speed of flight on the basis of 1000 km - 1820 km / h. "Mirage" flew 33 minutes without hanging tanks with full refueling, having twice passed along a closed route with a length of 500 km, centered at Orly airport.
Simultaneously with the above-mentioned record, the aircraft set a record for the speed of the flight along a closed route with a length of 500 km -1972 km / h. This figure exceeded the record speed belonging to the American "Phantom" at 14 km / h, but this achievement was not officially recorded. Approach was made at a speed of 320 km / h, the length of the run with a brake parachute was 700 m. After the flight, the pilot said that he could reach a higher speed, if not for the limitations associated with the maximum air temperature at the entrance to the engine compressor. On serial aircraft wanted to install engines "Atar" 9D with a thrust of 7000 kg with steel blades of the compressor, which removed all restrictions.
The prototype "Mirage" IV 02, which took off on October 12, 1961, was different from the first aircraft. It had several large geometric dimensions, a modified keel shape, and everything needed to install airborne equipment and weapons. The atomic bomb of type "A" (AN-11) with a capacity of 60 Kt, which was enclosed in an armored streamlined container with stabilizers, was suspended in a half-recessed position between the engines. The bomb itself was tested on February 13, 1960 in Algeria, this was the first test of French nuclear weapons. The third aircraft took off in June 1962, and the fourth took place on January 23, 1963.
Aircraft 01, in fact, the aerodynamic prototype "Mirage" IV, was used mainly for the training of crews and crashed in 1963. The aircraft 02 was intended for testing the bombing system, only mock-ups were used in flights. On the aircraft 03 passed the test on-board equipment. It was installed a panoramic radar "Cyrano" 2, similar to the locator from the anti-submarine aircraft Breguet 1050 "Alize", and the British Doppler radar Marconi AD2300, produced in France under license. After the tests, it was used to test the system of refueling in the air from US refuelers KC-135F.
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