This aircraft type, ensured peace and stability, in the Southern Africa region, for almost 22 years!

The alarming rate at which communism spread southwards through Africa was a great concern to South Africa, especially the new weaponry employed by these countries, mostly of Soviet origin. It wasn't very difficult to forecast that similar revolutionary conflicts would also happen in Mozambique and Angola. This was right on South Africa's doorstep. In December 1969, the Minister of Defense, Mr P.W. Botha, announced that SA would be buying new aircraft in the early 70's. After evaluating several types, the SAAF selected the Dassault Mirage F1 from France. At the time one of the most technological advanced aircraft in the world. The SAAF was the first export customer. This aircraft type was for many years the symbol of our Nation's strength. At least two CZs were on permanent standby to guard against attacks from the North, while both AZs and CZs saw extensive combat during the Border War conflict, flying through one of the most advanced enemy air defence systems in the world. It is therefore no surprise that the Mirage F1 was the SAAF's most successful fighter attack aircraft. SAAF pilots loved the aircraft, and points out - to fly the aircraft is like the Sabre, only better and with the performance of the Mirage III.

Dassault Aviation:

The name Dassault has been associated with a number of successful aircraft types, the best known being the Mirage III. The Mirage III is Europe's most successful export supersonic fighter, as it was produced for 22 air forces, including South Africa. However, while an excellent high altitude interceptor the delta design had a number of drawbacks, - the most common being, the delta generates too much drag in hard dog fights and causes a very high landing speed. The high landing speed of 339 km/h (210 mph) was the factor which caused Dassault to look at other options. Dassault Aviation, embarked on an intensive programme of prototype construction, flight testing and research & development - which is unequalled in aviation history! Some of the designs that emerged were the VTOL Mirage III - the French is considered to have perfected the VTOL concept, although the British made it practical in the form of the Harrier. The Mirage F type used conventional swept wings of very thin design and took considerable research & development by Dassault to perfect this very advanced construction. The F2 was a double seater and the scaled down F1 being a single seater, was powered by the Atar K, with its maiden flight on 27 December 1966. The Mirage G featured variable sweep wings. Dassault Aviation is the only aerospace company to successfully produce both VTOL and variable swept wing aircraft. These four main types were carefully researched and the various advantages weighed against each other. Even politics was entered into the equation and the selection fell on the single seater Mirage F1 (often referred to as the "Super Mirage"), powered by the most powerful fighter engine then available in France - the Atar 09K50. Most of these prototypes featured in the hit TV series (especially in SA) "Mirage". Today, these prototypes are on display at the Air & Space Museum, Le Bourget. Financially speaking, Dassault's decision to settle for an all-French product was a wise one, for the Fl was subsequently bought by at least two regimes of which the Americans heartily disapproved - South Africa and Libya. South Africa was Dassault's first export market for the F1 and also received a manufacturing license for the F1.