Posted on 06/11/2018 10:50:51 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Serge Dassault, who died on 28 May at the age of 93, is credited with having spearheaded Dassault's drive into the combat aircraft market, and for closing export sales of types from within the hugely successful Mirage series.
Having managed its flight-test department from 1955 – during the development of types including the Mirage III, Mirage IV and maritime-strike Étendard – as head of export, Serge Dassault "led the negotiations that resulted in the sale of Mirage III aircraft to Switzerland and Australia" (pictured below), the company notes.
Commonwealth of Australia
Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that there are currently 863 Dassault-produced fighters in operational use, with this inventory spread between 14 nations around the globe.
Mirage 2000-series jets are the most numerous, with 421 examples used by the air forces of Egypt, France, Greece, India, Peru, Qatar, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates. With its aircraft including C/D/N strike variants and -5-model fighters, the French air force's active total accounts for almost 40% of all Mirage 2000s.
Crown Copyright
Three older Mirage models – the III, 5 and F1 – are also still flown by multiple nations, with their combined total of 292 aircraft representing one-third of the global Dassault fighter fleet. Egypt and Pakistan dominate, with 260 Mirage IIIs and 5s between them, with the Egyptian air force's oldest Mirage 5 being 44 years old, Fleets Analyzer shows.
(Excerpt) Read more at flightglobal.com ...
Mmmmmmmmm . . .
Warplane porn.
Love to know more about the South African Cheetah's and the Israeli Kfir, they are somewhat of a mystery.
I wouldn't rule out Delta / BWB / Modified Flying Wing type config's being added to our fleet in the future...
His father changed his name from Bloch to Dassault after WWII and a stay in the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Think D’Assault.
Nit everyone can afford a Mercedes, but everyone wants a good car. Dassault saw the greater market - as did Saab - and filled it.
XF-90. F-102. F-106. Area-ruled fuselage designs. The Dart was a great plane.
By the bye, I love taildraggers. Fueled them in my first real job out of high school.
I am working some into my science-fiction series: sort of Diesel Punk retro.
Bloch 157 was very advanced: twin-row radial; 440 mph at altitude. Too late for war effort.
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