- Yes
- No
The Aussie Mirage(Mirage IIIO(A))
Welcome to my first suggestion, the GAF Mirage (Known as the Mirage IIIO) I hope you enjoy reading it!
This suggestion is on the “Mirage IIIO(A)” variant which is the ground attack model.
-P0LAR0
I noticed that the Mirage “City of Hobart” had already been suggested, however this is different to that as the “City of Hobart” Prototype was fitted with the Avon Engine. I hope we can see this ingame some time at a BR around 10.0 - 10.7
The GAF Mirage (Mirage IIIO(A))
The GAF (Government Aircraft Factories) Mirage was a variant of the French Mirage III delta winged jet built specifically for the RAAF and built off the Mirage IIIE. The main difference between the standard Mirage III and the GAF Mirage was the power plant. The original prototypes of the GAF mirage used the same engine as the CAC Sabre (the Rolls-Royce Avon engine) but after testing it was decided that due to cost the GAF Mirage would use a SNECMA Atar 9C after-burning Turbojet engine providing 13,670lb of thrust and built under license by GAF (Government Aircraft Factories) at Fisherman’s Bend in Melbourne, Australia.
(Fig.1:The Mirage IIIO at the top (A3-11) and the Mirage IIID (A3-113), A two seat lead-in fighter trainer at the bottom (image source: Wikipedia commons))
Outline
Performance
The Mirage IIIO had a max speed of Mach 1.14 (1,390km/h) at sea level, or Mach 2.2 (2,350km/h) at 10,973m. It could climb to this height in 3 minutes (Source) with a service ceiling of 16,994m. the Mirage IIIO had a combat radius of 1,200km and a max ferry range of 3,862km.
(Fig.2: Mirage IIIO A3-48 with inert training missiles (AIM-9B) and drop tanks (image source: Flickr))
Development and History
The GAF Mirage Project first took flight on February 13, 1961. This was the first Mirage IIIO, which while it didn’t have a serial number it did wear the RAAF Roundels and was named “City of Hobart.” This jet was one of the few prototypes with the Rolls-Royce Avon engine and was eventually converted to a Mirage IIIE, which the IIIO is based off. The Designation Mirage IIIO is interesting because the Mirage IIIA had already been allocated to 10 pre production Mirage III, so Dassault suggested “IIIO” for “Ostralia.” Following the decision to change to the Atar 9C engine the first Aircraft (tail number A3-1) was built in France for the RAAF and first flew on March 14 1963 and was handed over on April 9 of the same year and transported on a C-130A to Australia. The 2nd French built IIIO (Tail number A3-2) was kept in France for testing with RAAF Equipment and modifications until August 1965. A further 2 aircraft were shipped to Australia as fully equipped major assemblies and completed at Avalon by GAF. The first of these (Tail number A3-3) was flown by the then Squadron Leader Bill Collings on November 16 1963. The production gradually changed from being mostly built in France to being subcontracted to various companies, with the wings, tail and engine being subcontracted to CAC (Commonwealth aircraft Corporation.)
The first Australian Built IIIO flew in may of 1965 as the Mirage IIIO (F). Australia built 116 Mirage IIIO Jets, with the first 48 (Aircraft A3-3 to A3-50) being designated as Mirage IIIO(F) interceptors and equipped with the Cyrano IIA Radar. The following 50 aircraft were assembled as Mirage IIIO(A) ground attack/strike aircraft and were equipped with the Cyrano IIB radar, which included a radar altimeter, Radar ground mapping and Doppler navigation functions.
The Mirage IIIO was retired in July 1973 due to most of the air frames surpassing their recommended flight hours, despite never seeing combat in Australian service (some air frames logged up to 4000 hours!). However, in the late 70’s they received improved avionics and ejection seats and then in 1990 Pakistan purchased 50 Mirage IIIO (improved) aircraft (42 Single Seat models and 8 Two Seat models) and five incomplete air frames. Only 45 of these aircraft were incorporated into Pakistani use. A total of 42 Mirage IIIO were lost, with 18 suffering engine failure, 11 lost due to loss of control, 6 undercarriage failures, 3 landing accidents, 3 collisions (with other aircraft) and 1 tyre failure. This leaves the Mirage IIIO with a ~36% loss rate, although it never saw combat.
(Fig.3: Mirage IIIO A3-3 on display at Fighter World Williamstown with its armament on show (Source: Destination’s Journey))
Specifications
Specifications
Engine: SNECMA Atar 9C producing 9600lb thrust at military power (13670lb after-burning)
Performance:
Max speed: 1390km/h at Sea Level (Mach 1.14), 2350km/h (Mach 2.2) at 36000ft (10973m)
Combat Radius: 1200km
Dimensions:
Wingspan: 8.22m
Length: 15.03m
Height: 4.5m
Weight: Empty: 7049KG (15540lb) Max load: 13699kg (30,200lb)
Armament:
NOTE: the IIIO could also be mounted with the rocket boost pack seen on the IIIC in game already
Guns: 2x DEFA 30mm cannons with 125 RPG in a gun pack
Rockets: Matra JL-100 Drop tank with Integrated SNEB rockets (19x per tank, up to two tanks could be carried on wing pylons(see fig.2), tank could hold 250L of fuel)
AAM: 2x Matra R.550 OR 2x AIM-9B Sidewinder IR missiles, in addition to 1x Matra R.530 SARH missile (mounted center line)
Ground Strike Munitions: up to 8x Mk.82 500lb GP or 4xSnakeye bombs (Note: these were mounted on RPK 10 Drop Tank/Bomb carriers, each holding up to 4 bombs (2 a side))
Countermeasures: AN/ALE-32 Chaff Dispenser and AN/ALQ-72 ECM pod (unsure if this was ever actually equipped but it’s listed in the mirage IIIO’s performance charts)
Radar: Cyrano IIB Radar, the same as on the Mirage IIIE in game already (as pictured below (fig.4))
Why should the Mirage IIIO be added to the game?
In Warthunder, Australia has very few planes and only one of them is a jet (the f111C). The Mirage IIIO would fit in with the other Mirage III’s in the French Tech Tree or event vehicle, or could be added after the Buccaneer S.2 to the British Tech tree as it is an attacker. Britain also don’t have any CAS at 10.0.
Sources
Spoiler
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Mirage_III
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Mirage_III_Australian_procurement
(don’t worry, I only cited history and images from Wiki, all of the specs are from more credible sources)
http://adf-serials.com.au/CMS/index.php/raaf3/3a3?highlight=WyJhMy0zIl0=
https://www.airforce.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-07/A3-Dassault%20Mirrage%20III-%20%20pp418-423.pdf
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23344035@N03/6131016059/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAAF_Mirage_IIIO_%286131016059%29.jpg
https://www.destinationsjourney.com/aviation/aircraft-photographs/dassault-mirage-iiio/
https://www.airforce.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-07/Mirage%20A3-41.pdf
http://www.enginehistory.org/GasTurbines/SAFRAN/SNECMAATAR9C.pdf
http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/3a3%20losses.htm
https://www.avialogs.com/aircraft-d/dassault/item/2767-aap-7213003-1-1-flight-manual-mirage-iiio-and-iiid-performance-dataon#Document Note that accessing this requires a free account, and there’s no way for me to attach a PDF directly
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sisaphus/15630110987 Cyrano IIB radar from a mirage III
If you find any other relevant information, or interesting history, feel free to drop it in a comment below.
Thanks for reading!