Dassault Mirage IV

what is it?

The Dassault Mirage IV is a supersonic strategic bomber and deep-reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by the French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation. Development of the Mirage IV began in the mid-1950s in response to a need for a supersonic carrier aircraft for France's independent nuclear deterrent. Dassault competed with other aircraft manufacturers, such as Sud Aviation and Nord Aviation, to have its proposal built, which was viewed as being both cheaper and simpler to develop in part due to it drawing upon the earlier Dassault Mirage III fighter.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 11.9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 2,340 km/htop speed
• size 33.5 tmax take-off weight
• built 66made 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 67 years ago, in 1959.
• 🏎️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 11.9 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 6 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 2.3× 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

1959-06-17

introduced

1964

retired

1996

status

retired

number built

66

role

supersonic strategic bomber

origin

🇫🇷 France

makers

Dassault Aviation

engines

2× SNECMA Atar 9K-50 / Atar

crew

2

length

23.5 m

wingspan

11.9 m

height

5.4 m

max take-off weight

33.5 t

top speed

2,340 km/h

range

—

ceiling

20,000 m

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