Dassault Mirage III Mirage IIIS

The Mirage IIIS is the interception version that the Swiss Air Force adopted in the early 1960s after an evaluation campaign that pitted the Mirage III against the Saab 35 Draken, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, the Fiat G-91 and the Grumman F-11F Super Tiger. The Mirage III was selected in 1961, with credit approved for 100 units to be built entirely under licence in Switzerland, engines included. While the production line was being set up, Switzerland bought one Mirage IIIC in 1962 — documented as the IIICS, used for evaluation — and two Mirage IIIBS two-seaters in 1964.

The licence-production programme turned into a national scandal: the numerous modifications planned for the production aircraft — Hughes TARAN-18 radar and fire-control system replacing the French Cyrano, modified nose gear to operate from underground facilities, Swiss-made 30 mm cannon, JATO takeoff-assist rockets — and the tooling-up needed to manufacture the parts sent the budget far above forecast. A parliamentary commission of inquiry was set up and several senior military officers and a Federal Councillor were forced to resign. The budget was raised slightly, but the order was cut to 57 units in total split between the three Swiss versions.

Of these, 36 were Mirage IIIS fighter-interceptors, delivered between 1966 and 1969, with the TARAN-18 radar and US-made AIM-4 Falcon and Sidewinder missile armament, plus the 17 Mirage IIIRS reconnaissance aircraft (1968-1970, a figure another source in the captured material raises to 18, a discrepancy recorded without resolution) and the Mirage IIIDS two-seat trainers. After two-seater accidents in 1969 and 1977, two additional aircraft were acquired in 1983.

Between 1988 and 1992 the Swiss Mirages — including the IIIS — received a mid-life upgrade: fixed canard foreplanes and chaff/flare dispensers were added, and a new ejection seat was fitted; the same operation gave them a new two-tone grey camouflage scheme. When in late 1997 the Swiss Air Force's first F/A-18 Hornet unit became operational, the Mirage's days were numbered: the 29 surviving Mirage IIIS were retired on 31 December 1999, followed exactly four years later by the 16 Mirage IIIRS and 4 Mirage IIIDS still in service. Between 1966 and 1999 Switzerland lost ten aircraft of the family in accidents.