Mirage IV - Modernization
In the late 1970s, the leading role in the strategic forces of France finally passed to ballistic missiles of land and sea basing. 12 Mirage IVA aircraft were converted into strategic scouts, photo equipment was placed in a suspended container. In the arsenal of the bomber squadrons there were only 33 aircraft and four vehicles were withdrawn to the reserve.
As a nuclear bomber, the aircraft was completely obsolete by the beginning of the 1980s. To increase the combat potential of "Mirage", in 1983 it was decided to carry out radical modernization of all its systems. As of 1983, 38 Mirage IVA aircraft were deployed at the bases of the Mont de Morsan, Caso, Avor and Saint-Dizier bases of France, of which 18 bombers, six reconnaissance aircraft and four aircraft were in reserve.
The rest of the aircraft were sent for revision. First of all, the modernization concerned the weapons system. Entering the modern air defense zone with an aircraft of the 1960s was tantamount to suicide. Avoiding the air defense zone could only be done with a guided missile. The first Mirage weapons projects with IV missiles date back to 1963, then they wanted to arm the plane with an AS.2 Gamma missile with a nuclear warhead and a range of 290 km.
In combat flight, in addition to a rocket, a 3 m long container with a diameter of 16 centimeters with a station of the REB "Barem" should be suspended on the bomber. A broadband interference station with a controlled radiation power, produces noise interference.
The "Mirage" was equiped with the newest missile with a combined rocket direct-flow engine and a 150-kt warhead - ASMP. For this, instead of a nuclear bomb, a special suspension pylon was installed on the bomber and the onboard equipment was modified, adding to its structure an inertial navigation system and a radar "Arkan" with a mode of mapping the terrain. Such a radar was used for periodic correction of the navigation system in order to improve the accuracy of determining the position of the aircraft. The use of conventional radio navigation systems for this purpose was considered inadvisable in terms of noise immunity. Ground tests of the rocket began in 1980.
In 1983, the first launch of ASMP from Mirage IV took place. Immediately before the launch, the Mirage navigator introduced the coordinates of the launching point into the inertial rocket system. After the ASMP reset, its solid fuel booster was turned on, which in five seconds accelerated the missile to a speed of M = 2. When the powder charge of the booster burned out, the ramjet air-jet engine entered the case, accelerating ASMP to M = 3 at medium altitudes.
The range of the missile's flight depended strongly on the height of the launch and the flight profile. If ASMP flew at high and medium altitudes, it could fly 250 km, if the missile flew to the target at low altitude, then the range reaches 80 km. The system of autonomous guidance was inertial, and because of this the accuracy of hitting the target was not high, the probable circular deviation was about 150 m, but for the nuclear warhead this value was quite acceptable. The launching weight of the rocket was 860 kg, the weight of the combat part was 300 kg.
The rocket carriers (18 aircraft) received the designation "Mirage" IVR. In 1996, it was decided to remove the bomber from the armament. Aircraft began to write off gradually on the development of the resource. In combat units they were replaced by tactical fighters "Mirage" 2000N.
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