Dassault Mirage 2000

what is it?

The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a multirole, single-engine, delta wing, fourth-generation jet fighter designed and produced by the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation. Work on what would become the Mirage 2000 originated with the "Delta 1000" project launched in 1972. In contrast to other projects that Dassault had recently worked on, such as the Anglo-French Variable Geometry (AFVG) and Mirage G, the Delta 1000 was an interceptor first and a strike aircraft second while retaining a more affordable single engine configuration.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 9.1 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 2,336 km/htop speed
• range 1,550 kmwithout refuelling
• size 17 tmax take-off weight
• built 601made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 48 years ago, in 1978.
• 🏎️Top speed is 18.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 1.9 (sea-level speed of sound ≈ 1,235 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 9.1 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 3 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 1,550 km: 9× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.9× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1978-03-10

introduced

1984

status

still flying

number built

601

role

multirole fighter aircraft

origin

🇫🇷 France

makers

Dassault Aviation

engines

1× SNECMA M53-P2

crew

1

length

14.4 m

wingspan

9.1 m

height

5.2 m

max take-off weight

17 t

top speed

2,336 km/h

range

1,550 km

ceiling

17,060 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family