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Long before the Mirage IVA solidified into the current twin ATAR airframe, the Mirage IV was a very "elastic" paper design study. It is common knowledge that the current land based Mirage IVA was originally planned as a far larger aircraft with J-75 turbojets. The proposed Mirage IVM naval variant is less well known.
The French originally planned on constructing a third, larger aircraft carrier after the Clemenceau and Foch. The project was named PA58, with PA being the abreviation for "Porte Avion" and 58 denoting the fiscal year. (Clemenceau and Foch were respectively PA54 and PA55.)
Fate intervened when the balistic missile made the carrier-based stategic strike mission obsolete. In any case, the 45,000 ton PA58 would have been a singleton unit and due to its size, the Mirage IVM could never have operated from smaller Clemenceau class.
Source: Porte Avions Francais by F. Dousset, p. 94. Paris, 1978
The French originally planned on constructing a third, larger aircraft carrier after the Clemenceau and Foch. The project was named PA58, with PA being the abreviation for "Porte Avion" and 58 denoting the fiscal year. (Clemenceau and Foch were respectively PA54 and PA55.)
Fate intervened when the balistic missile made the carrier-based stategic strike mission obsolete. In any case, the 45,000 ton PA58 would have been a singleton unit and due to its size, the Mirage IVM could never have operated from smaller Clemenceau class.
Source: Porte Avions Francais by F. Dousset, p. 94. Paris, 1978