Dassault Mirage III Mirage IIIE

Low-level strike and all-weather fighter version, the most numerous and most exported in the family. Fuselage 30 cm longer than the IIIC to house more avionics and fuel, Cyrano II radar with air-to-surface modes, Doppler navigation radar under the nose, TACAN and Atar 9C engine. First flew on 5 April 1961; 183 units for the Armée de l'Air and export series for Argentina (IIIEA), South Africa (IIIEZ), Pakistan (IIIEP), Spain (IIIEE), Brazil (IIIEBR), Venezuela (IIIEV) and Lebanon (IIIEL).

Updated: August 19, 2026

Image pending

April 5, 1961

First flight

183

Units built

2,400 km

Range

History

The Mirage IIIE is the version that took the Mirage III formula beyond pure interception into low-level strike and all-weather penetration, and it is also the most numerous and most exported of the whole family. Compared with the IIIC, the fuselage was lengthened by 30 centimetres to make room for an additional avionics bay and more fuel capacity; a Thomson-CSF Cyrano II radar was fitted with air-to-surface modes in addition to air-to-air, along with a Doppler navigation radar under the nose coupled to an inertial navigation unit and a TACAN receiver, and the SNECMA Atar 9C turbojet, rated at 41.97 kN dry and 60.8 kN with afterburner, with provision for an additional 14.7 kN SEPR 841 auxiliary rocket. It first flew on 5 April 1961; the Armée de l'Air received 183 units.

According to the specification table in the captured material (Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft), the IIIE had a wingspan of 8.22 m, a wing area of 34.85 m², an empty weight of 7,050 kg and a maximum takeoff weight of 13,700 kg; it reached 2,350 km/h (Mach 2.2) at 12,000 m, with a climb rate of 83 m/s, a combat radius of 1,200 km and a ferry range of 3,335 km with a service ceiling of 17,000 m. Armament remained two 30 mm DEFA 552 cannon, extendable with Matra JL-100 rocket pods, AIM-9B Sidewinder or Matra R.550 Magic missiles combined with an R.530, and up to 4,000 kg of stores on five hardpoints, including — until 1991 — the French AN-52 tactical nuclear bomb from 1973 and the R550 Magic short-range missile from 1976.

Its commercial success was notable: besides the 183 French aircraft, the IIIE gave rise to country-lettered variants for Argentina (IIIEA, 17 units), South Africa (IIIEZ, 17 units between 1965 and 1972), Pakistan (IIIEP, 18 units between 1967 and 1969), Spain (IIIEE, 24 units from 1970, local designation C.11), Brazil (IIIEBR, 16 units, local designation F-103E), Venezuela (IIIEV, seven units from 1971, without Doppler radar) and Lebanon (IIIEL, ten units between 1967 and 1969, also without Doppler but with an additional HF antenna). The two-seat trainer derived directly from the IIIE, the Mirage IIID — and its Armée de l'Air equivalent, the IIIBE — in turn became the basis for the export trainers of almost all these same customers. In the late 1980s, technology developed for the experimental Mirage IIING demonstrator — canards, modernised avionics — was applied as an upgrade programme to Brazilian IIIE and to ex-French IIIE transferred to Brazil under the IIIEBR-2 and IIIEX designations.

Key data

Aircraft type	Single-seat, delta-wing all-weather fighter-bomber for low-level strike and interception.
Length	15 m
Wingspan	8.2 m
Height	4.5 m
Wing area	34.9 m²
Empty weight	7,050 kg
MTOW	13,700 kg
Top speed	2,350 km/h at 12,000 m
Service ceiling	17,000 m
Initial climb rate	83 m/s
Range	2,400 km
Ferry range	3,335 km
Combat radius	1,200 km
Powerplant	1 × Atar 9C
Thrust per engine	60.8 kN
Max weapons load	4,000 kg
Payload	4,000 kg
Crew	1

Powerplant

One SNECMA Atar 9C turbojet, rated at 41.97 kN dry and 60.8 kN with afterburner; the latter figure is the one recorded as thrust per engine. The IIIE also retained provision for an auxiliary SEPR 841 liquid-fuelled rocket delivering an additional 14.7 kN, intended to improve climb rate and ceiling on high-altitude interception missions; it is not counted in the main engine figures.

Armament

Two 30 mm DEFA 552 cannon with 125 rounds each. The five external hardpoints could carry Matra JL-100 rocket/drop-tank pods (each with 19 SNEB 68 mm rockets and 250 l of fuel), AIM-9B Sidewinder or Matra R.550 Magic air-to-air missiles paired with an R.530, conventional bombs and, until 1991, the French AN-52 tactical nuclear bomb (from 1973).

Cargo capacity

The aircraft has no cargo bay: the 4,000 kg figure given by the material is a single structural limit across the five external hardpoints, shared between weapons, reconnaissance pods and drop tanks, so the same value is recorded for both max weapons load and payload.

Range conditions

The material distinguishes combat radius (1,200 km) and ferry range (3,335 km) with external tanks, but gives no generic range figure or endurance in minutes, so those two fields are left without data from the captured material.