Mirage F3

[Archibald]

the story of the swept-wing Mirages (Mirage F) is rather complicated. The F2 come first, then the F3 and finally the F1 was adopted.

It's mainly because mirage F1 was only a private venture with few chances of success. We all know that the atar engine lacked of ower and was fuel -guzzling... at the time, the TF-106 / 306 engines were the way to go for the french fighters.

The Mirage F3 was the link between the F2 (TF-306 engine) and the F1 (small interceptor). It was not only a single-seat F2 : according to Dassault websites, the dimensions are very differents!
A short comparison
Mirage F1 : length 14.50 m, span 7.80 m empty weight around 7.5 tons
Mirage F3 : length 16m, span 9.3 m empty weight 9.3 tons
Mirage F2 : length 17m, span 10.5 m empty weight 9.8 tons

The context
The studies of the F1 and F2 were started in 1963 and both prototypes flew in 1966.
The F2 was to an attack plane, but become unuseful when france left NATO in may 1966. now the country needed an interceptor... that's why two F3 prototypes were started. But the lighter F1 with its FRENCH engine (just ask de Gaulle about the americans...) was chosen instead.
aparently the unfinished F3 were scrapped.

[Archibald]

Some tough about the F3.
The plane was bigger, so it carried more fuel
It's engine could have been changed for a M53 later( program started in 1968)
The plane obtained would have been quite similar to a F1M53, but...with a bigger fuselage, and bigger span, maybe more range? More effective to compete with the Phantom in Greece, Spain and others countries.
Mirage F3EQ sounds cool...