Dassault Variable Geometry: Mirage G / G4 /G8 family

Hi! Russian site. G8A,etc.


No.4 and No.6(mockup?) picture shows G8A prototype nearing complition when cancelled in March 1976. Sad......


And




 

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I think the best available G8A three side view drawing is in page 170 of "FRENCH SECRET PROJECTS Post War Fighter" J.C.Carbonel, because it's seems to be a official drawing.
And in page 192/193 of "Le Mirage F1 et les MIRAGES de seconde génération, voilure en fleche par Michel Liebert st Sébastien Buyck Premier tome: Projets et Prototypes". ;) 
 
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I saw this beauty sometimes in Japan.
Also my onetime boss had this beauty.

 

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The wing is really F-105ish

acf-pic2-jpg.618075


Let's call it a ThunderRage.
 
Surely one might notice how Tornados often have their wings in such a position.....

So Dassault took the obvious step of just going for the sweep angle that made most sense and cut out the VG part.
 
Hi! Single TF306C engine Mirage G.

https://www.pinterest.jp/pin/267190190375252496/?lp=true
 

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Hi! Single seat Mirage G8-02.

Mirage G was developed into a twin-engine, two-seat nuclear strike fighter, the Mirage G4.
G4 was intended to be powered by Snecma M53 turbofan engines.
While two G4 were under construction the requirements changed and the French military requested that the design be converted into a dedicated interceptor, the Mirage G8.
Mirage G4-01 was redesignated G8-01 and remained a two-seat aircraft (first flight 8 May 1971) with the second aircraft, G4-02 becoming a single-seat version, G8-02 (first flight 13 July 1972).
But no funding was included for the Mirage G8 in the 1971-1976 French defence budget the aircraft did not enter production.

Among G family, only G, G8-01 and G8-02 realized.

“Mirage G8 02 made its maiden flight at Istres, on July 13, 1972, piloted by Jean-Marie Saget. For its first anniversary – and its 74th sortie – on July 13, 1973, it achieved the highest speed ever for an aircraft in Western Europe: Mach 2.34 at 42,000 ft.”

Movie here.
 

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The usual French stuff. AN-52 tac nuke and the coming ASMP later on. Drop tanks, twin internal 30 mm DEFA guns, Matra 530 (interceptors) and Magic AAM (self defense). Durandal, AS30 and 30L, iron bombs.
Exocet for export only because it was the Navy business.
Dassault demonstrators seldom or never had guns, only later prototypes for AdA got them. Also dummy AAMs for photo ops (the 4000 particularly, up to 14 of them !). The G and G8 were flown with drop tanks - and that was it.
 
The Mirage G was an oddball. It was neither an interceptor nor a ground pounder nor a naval aircraft - because it never any RFP attached to it by the French military.

As such, its armement was never clearly defined. Much like the other Mirages it certainly would have had the classic twin DEFA 553 guns under the air intakes - and that's it.

It essentially was an opportunistic move by Dassault
- Putting VG wings on a F2 airframe (they were extremely similar)
- Also a way of screwing the AFVG they didn't liked very much.

The Mirage G4 and G8 by contrast got a clear RFP and requirement = successors to the Mirage IVA. Very much French miniature F-111 and very similar to the Tornado.
So they would have carried A2G weapons and free-fall tactical nukes similar to the Mirage IVA: AN-21 for high altitude (and suicide against SAMs) and the AN-22 low-altitude variant with a braking parachute.
In fact the G4 was F-111 in size, and the G8 shrunk to Tornado size.
The lone G4 prototype aparently morphed into the first G8, the -01 two-seater.
Mirage G8-02 was single seat and even faster. Mach 2.34 with Atar 9K50 on July 13, 1973 (my mother turned 30 years that day !)

There is a clear legacy between that second G8 and the ACF. With M53s and without the VG wing weight, it would have hit Mach 2.5 and chased those pesky MiG-25R caught spying the Pierrelate nuclear center in the Rhone Valley.

The ACF thus closely derived from the G8-02. The ASMP cruise missile was also created for the ACF in the mid-70's. Just like the Mirage 2000 that replaced it, there would have been an ACF -C single seat interceptor, and B/D/N two-seaters for conventional strike, training, and nuclear strike.

Just like the F-15/F-16, F-14/F-18, Su-27/ MiG-29 and 2000/4000, the ACF also had a low-end: the Mirage F1-M53 that lost to the F-16 in June 1975 and was immediately abandonned afterwards.

Mirage F1-Atar started entering service in spring 1973 but the Armée de l'Air was ready to switch to F1-M53 provided it was partially funded through the deal of the century. When it lost, the ACF died with it. Only for the high-low mix to return in the shape of the 2000/4000.
Only for the twin-jet heavy fighter to kick the bucket for the fifth time in a row (!) AFVG > G4 > G8 > ACF > 4000. Same player shoot again, sixth time was the charm (!) and the Rafale finally bet the odds two decades later.

The ASMP migrated to 18 upgraded Mirage IV-A rebranded Mirage IV-P (1978-1996, 2005 for reconnaissance). Next was the Mirage 2000N (1988-2014), and finally the Rafale.
 
Sadly the swing wing Mirages did not make it into toy or model form. Even the famous Kitmaker Heller did not bite.
But if you want your own Super Mirage this Matchbox size Auto Pilen toy can be found on Fleabay.
 

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The Mirage G was an oddball. It was neither an interceptor nor a ground pounder nor a naval aircraft - because it never any RFP attached to it by the French military.

D'oh ! I've just realized I was completely wrong there. Silly me. YES, the Mirage G had a requirement attached to it. It did not come out of nowhere, as a Dassault private venture to screw AFVG. This is an urban legend, somewhat.

The 1964 DAFNE (cute acronym !) was very much a F6D Missileer / F-111B / F-14 Tomcat wannabee, for Foch and Clemenceau carriers.
DAFNE mean "Defense Aerienne des Forces Navales... and the "E" meaning escape me but you get the point.
"Air Defense of Naval Forces" ADNF in english.

Just like the Missileer, F-111B and Tomcat "long range air defense of carrier task forces".

Breguet proposed their 1200 project for it
(note: the future Jaguar was next in the projects list: the same year 1964, 1210 become 121, then Breguet winning entry into ECAT the next year, May 1965: the "supersonic trainer attack plane" that led to the Jaguar)

And Dassault created the Mirage G.

I have the very old but still pertinent book "Les avions Breguets" in Pdf, I will post the Breguet 1200 DAFNE soon.

Well, no need - because of this > https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/aeronavale-projects-early-60s.445/
 
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A couple of views of the Mirage G8 01 at Le Bourget, with its left hand wing at full sweep and opposite with lift devices deployed. I took these in 2019 (not 2018!).
 

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The following may perhaps be of interest.

In the spring of 1969, a well-known French aircraft manufacturer began discussions with the Government of Quebec. The Société des avions Marcel Dassault was considering the possibility of building a factory in Sainte-Scholastique, near the site of the future Montreal-Mirabel International Airport.

You see, virtually all French manufacturers of war material then found themselves faced with an unofficial ban imposed by the American government, which had been deeply angered by the attitude and actions of President Charles de Gaulle. A factory on Canadian soil could facilitate access to the American market for Marcel Dassault, which hoped to boost sales of his Fan Jet Falcon business jet. Better yet, the French aircraft manufacturer was not unaware that the Canadian government had withdrawn, in the spring of 1969, from a multirole combat aircraft program launched in 1968 by a few member countries of NATO to find a replacement for the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter supersonic fighter bomber. That program later gave birth to the Panavia Tornado. Indeed, Marcel Dassault offered to the Canadian Department of National Defence a multirole version of its brand new Mirage G8. Given the lack of a Canadian order for this supersonic jet then under development and the limited number of orders for the Fan Jet Falcon, Marcel Dassault soon abandoned its project in Quebec.
 
Nice try, Tonton Marcel - but Canada in 1969 was no longer able to afford a Tornado look-alike... future belonged to the Hornet a decade later.

Also "vive le Québec libre" scandal probably didn't helped either.

De Gaulle was a visionary but he could also be an impulsive dickhead at times... :D
 
I very much agree that the Tornado and G-8 were out of financial reach. Belgium and the Netherlands also left the Tornado program. In any event, the Canadian military was unlikely to go for an aircraft which had yet to fly.

If I may, de Gaulle's statement may well have been linked to the very enthusiastic reception he got as soon as he set foot in Quebec, to his displeasure at Ottawa's refusal to sell uranium to France and problems with fishing rights in the Gulf of St Lawrence, and possibly other factors.
 
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Oh no problem Fortrena. I'm french but quite lucid about De Gaulle strengths and flaws.
 
Sorry, did some one mention France and Tornado?

F316_Tornado_IDS_France.jpg


Sorry, I could not help myself ;)

Back to your normal thread...
Sacrilège ! Nice camo :D

Mind you I regret they stopped using the blue/white/red on the rudder, and instead now use that stupid "Armée de l'Air" script...
They could have kept with the tradition with just a thin blue/white/red stripe across the rudder.
I mean , even in Spain they kept a small St Andrew cross on the rudder, even tho it dates back from the civil war.
 

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