Mirage VI

[Archibald]

So the model is now finished, here we go for the backstory...

the domodedovo air show of July 1967 came as a shock for western observers. There, on the tarmac, was a huge machine, the MiG-25. In the following years, panic spread over Western world. Main consequence was the speed up of the FX program in the USAs, massive buying of CF-105 Arrows and Fairey Delta III by western allies (Japan, Israel, Iran, South Korea...).

At the time, France was developing the Mirage G8, a long range strike aircraft. This was to prove much too expensive, leading to a fixed wing variant (ACF) which was also too expensive.
In this context, in 1971 the first MiG-25R proved imune to interception by Isrealis Mirage IIIC. Even the new Mirage F1 (massively adopted by the Aeronavale and AdA after the Jag and Mirage G were scrapped) was clearly unable to intercept the MiG.
A massive review of AdA requirements led to a high-performance complement to the Mirage F1 was needed. To finance such a plane, Mirage IV squadrons were disbanded, Mirage III were sold abroad, many programs were stopped.

The new aicraft was on the drawing board since mid-1969. Revealed to the press at Le Bourget Airshow in june 1969, the plane had a delta wing very similar to the Mirage IV - albeit made of Titanium to cope with the high-termal machs- .

Its name also came as a surprise - it was named... the Mirage VI!- This explained by the fact that the plane returned to the delta wing, as its glorious ancestor.
It was otherwise very similar to the MiG-25 -albeit quite smaller- .

Engines were the brand new M53 rated at 9500 kgp. To save money, the weapon system was very similar to the Mirage F1 one (Cyrano IV + super 530)

(more to follow)

[Archibald]

Nev, this one is for you!


We just miss the Fairey Delta III  B)  

[Archibald]

Three squadrons of the 4eme EC received the new aircraft in 1975. Their primary role was protecting French airspace but the perfromances of the aircraft were so high that it was adapted to a secondary tactical nuclear role with an AN-52 on the centerline.

based in Luxeuil (east of France) they were on the path of the MiG-25 overflights...

[Archibald]

Et voila! External loads added!  Model now finished...

[B777LR]

Its really nice!

[Archibald]

Merci!

I was seeking a name for this thing when I saw the decals "Mirage IV"... and idea come!
The Mirage V was born in 1967 (there had been another Mirage V 10 years before, a scaled-up Mirage III with a tail... it was planned for naval use).
So the date of 1969 (Aviation Magazine from which all this story started) was credible for a...Mirage VI
And good point, I have just to invert the I and the V to obtain a 6  B)
And well, this project was a return to the delta wing of the Mirage  I to V serie...
:f16:

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

Beautiful camo!!!

i suppose that this plane is a special guest or a Tiger Meet, right? (I said special guest because the Tiger is not the current symbol of the Lafayette squadron)

And well, I did agree with the Mirage VI designation



Oh yes, I forgot! You'd better change the designation of the engines, or maybe find another variant of it... Indeed, the M53-2/-5/-P2 are not able to fly over Mach 2,6... But a new variant of the M53 (M53-S3??) could probably do that easily...

[Sisko]

Archie that is one nice camo job!!!!!!

[Archibald]

Beautiful camo!!!

i suppose that this plane is a special guest or a Tiger Meet, right? (I said special guest because the Tiger is not the current symbol of the Lafayette squadron)

And well, I did agree with the Mirage VI designation



Oh yes, I forgot! You'd better change the designation of the engines, or maybe find another variant of it... Indeed, the M53-2/-5/-P2 are not able to fly over Mach 2,6... But a new variant of the M53 (M53-S3??) could probably do that easily...

Yes, it's a Tiger Meet of course !!!

We can imagine that during the 70's or 80's, one of the squadrons of the 4eme EC (Lafayette, Limousin, or "the third squadron that I forget the name"   ) participated in a Tiger Meet. A usual, 2 or 3 planes of the squadron received this "tiger" paint sheme!

Reading the article on the ACF they said that in this aircraft and its forerunner (the G8) there was a complex system in the air intakes to allow higher speeds without destroying the engines. Maybe this system could have been adapted to the
Mirage VI.
In every case, a special variant of the M53 would have been needed... you can't reach mach 3 with only 8500 kgp of thrust per engine...
Something like the P.X proposed by SNECMA 3 years ago. Improved M53 P.2 with 15% more thrust (at 11200 kgp or so)...

[seavixen]

Now I do like that one. It has to be one of your better efforts Archibald. And that tiger scheme really looks the part.    

[ysi_maniac]

Looks cool B)  B)  B)  B)  

[Archibald]

wow! Topics anf threads ran at full speed this evening! This thread was already in page 2... pas trop vite les amis!
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/forum//index...&hl=mig-25&st=0

In the late 70's, recon variant of the MiG-25 was produced in numbers and soviets pilots started to overfly western world countries...
On the night of 28th June 1980, the AdA was on alert. For some days, Lybain aircrafts were harrassing the Foch (which was in cruise in the Mediterranean sea at the time) but also went closer and closer from Corsica. Worst, an Italian DC-9 had been shot down the night before, in mysterious circumstances...

but this night, the affair took another scale...
At 23h45, Mount Verdun radars -near Lyon- were put on alert. Radars located in the South of France had detected 2 intruders flying at mach 2 and 70 000 ft. Mirage F1 from Solenzara, then Orange had been scrambled over the Mediterranean  but they had been unable to catch them... Echo was closer and closer. Obviously the intruder was a recon aircraft monitoring French nuclear sites located in the South-east of the country... the echo pursued his road heading for Strasbourg and the German border.

But the trap was now close...
Mirage VI were scrambled from Luxeuil. Leader codename was Delta 7 and he count what happened...
" We were on alert for some days after the tensions with Lybia but also more and more agressive overflights by a wide variety of soviet recon aircrafts. After Mirage F1s had obtained missiles locks on Tu-22s, Su-24R and others "conventional" recon aircrafts, the soviets now only sended MiG-25R. As France is abig coutry to overfly, they cruised mach 1.5 only but very high height - Mirage f1s could not intercept them, just obtaining radar locks-. Main problems was the soviets known we couldn't fire our missiles. A more agressive interception was needed...
that was our mission.
I climbed in my aircraft and took off. We were guided by GCI and we headed to the MiG. The Popoff already know that he had been monitored, but didnd't changed anything. The lan was to obtain a radar lock similat to the Mirage F1s... at the beginning. Serious things were to start after that...

More to come

[Runway ? ...]

Nice one . Mirage VI is the perfect name. That sucker has an attitude and I don't mean the way it's parked    

[Archibald]

Thanks Runway!!!
We were now at 45 000 ft, 25 miles behind him (and 25 000 ft below) at subsonic speed. We light our radars and start to climb. The trap functioned very well; the guy thought that he was followed by Mirage F1s...
I say to my wingman "ok, here we go for the afterburner... 3, 2,1... my aircraft litterally jumped forward when I light the reheat and we started to accelerate and climb. The MiG started to show signs of worry, and was now heading to the West Germany border. We reached 70 000 ft and mach 2, still accelerating. The MiG pilot also started to accelerate but our aircrafts were lighter, stronger,  had better engines... and AAMs! The MiG passed mach 2.5 but we know it was limited to mach 2.8... we accelerated to mach 3.0 and the distance was now diminishig quickly.
Following te plan, my wingman left me and took its position...
And suddendly I saw the MiG!! A huge machine with the engines running at full power in the rarefied air of the stratosphere...  I prepared my AAMs, but they were not to be used.
I thundered 20 ft over the MiG, showing the russian pilot my Super-530. The manoeuver was not risky, we already now it was an unarmed MiG-25R.  
I made a break and left him... with my wingman! He has arrived 20 seconds after and took a position just behind the MiG - just in the good postion to fire a Magic or using its DEFA gun-.
Some minutes after I joined my wingman and we both "escorted" the MiG up to the German frontier. soviets never come back!"  

[Archibald]

In the frame of a research program over French mach 3 aircraft, Dassault had drawn, among others, this project of a twin-M53, fixed delta wing aircraft. Will it be build ?