Editing Dassault Mirage III (section)

====Switzerland====
[[File:Mirage III-R MG 1444.jpg|thumb|Swiss Dassault Mirage IIIRS on display]]
[[File:Jato3.jpg|thumb|Swiss Air Force Mirage IIIS JATO (jet-assisted take-off)]]

In 1961, [[Switzerland]] purchased a single Mirage IIIC from France for use as a development aircraft to support the nation's intentions to domestically produce 100 Mirage III fighters for the [[Swiss Air Force]].<ref name = "prof 189 190"/> Accordingly, Mirages were manufactured in Switzerland by F+W Emmen (today [[RUAG]], the federal government aircraft factory in [[Emmen, Switzerland|Emmen]]) under the Mirage IIIS designation. The Mirage IIIS was intended to perform the attack, interception, and reconnaissance missions in a single model.<ref name = "prof 189"/> However, the venture suffered considerable cost overruns, mainly due to Swiss-mandated customisations and features, this was compounded by a lack of financial oversight, controversy over the manufacturing cost ultimately cumulated in the so-called [[History of the Swiss Air Force#Mirage affair|"Mirage affair"]] and the resignation of several officials.<ref>François Modoux, « Du Mirage au Gripen : l'épreuve du carcan financier », {{Lang|fr|[[Le Temps]]}}, Thursday 15 May 2014, p. 9.</ref> It became clear that a single model was not capable of the performance desires; thus only 36 Mirage IIIS interceptors and 18 Mirage IIIRS reconnaissance aircraft were eventually produced by F+W Emmen.<ref name = "prof 189 190">Brindley 1971, pp. 189–190.</ref>

The Mirage IIIS was with considerably strengthened wings, airframe, and [[Landing gear|undercarriage]] as the Swiss Air Force had required robustness comparable to that of carrier-based planes.<ref name = "prof 189"/> The reinforced airframes enabled aircraft to be moved by lifting them with a crane (hence the airframes also being fitted with four lifting points, retractable nosecones and lengthened nosewheel legs), as the [[aircraft cavern]]s in the mountains that Swiss Air Force uses as bunkers offer very little space to maneuver parked aircraft. Another benefit of the strengthened frames was the enabling of [[JATO]]-assisted takeoffs, giving the type a [[STOL|short takeoff and landing]] (STOL) capability.<ref name = "prof 189"/>

Other major differences were present on the Swiss-built interceptors. It was furnished with new American-sourced avionics along with a different cockpit design, including a [[Hughes Aircraft Company]]-built TARAN-18 radar system and could armed with the [[AIM-4 Falcon]] air-to-air missile (Swiss designation of the [[Saab AB|SAAB]] Licence built Robot 27 (Rb27), which is similar to the Hughes AIM-26 "Falcon").<ref name = "prof 189"/> In addition, the Mirage IIIS had the wiring to carry a Swiss-built or French-built nuclear bomb. In the event, the programme to produce a [[Switzerland and weapons of mass destruction|Swiss nuclear bomb]] was stopped in the pre-production stage and Switzerland chose not to purchase such weapons from France either.{{Citation needed |date=January 2013}} The Mirage IIIRS could also carry a centerline pod for conducting [[aerial reconnaissance|photo reconnaissance]] missions, as well as an integral fuel tank underneath the aft belly; this tank could carry a smaller fuel load, but also allowed for a rear-facing film camera to also be added. When fitted with the reconnaissance pod, supersonic performance was severely diminished.<ref name = "prof 189"/> The Mirage IIIS could be optionally fitted with a SEPR (Société d'Etudes pour la Propulsion par Réaction) [[SEPR 84|844]] rocket engine.<ref>{{harvnb|Chenel|Liébert|Moreau|2014|page=86}}</ref>

[[File:SEPR Antrieb für Mirage.JPG|thumb|[[SEPR rocket engine|SEPR]] at the [[Flieger-Flab-Museum]] ]]

In 1967, the Mirage IIIS entered operational service with the Swiss Air Force; the Mirage IIIRS followed two years later.<ref name = "prof 190">Brindley 1971, p. 190.</ref> During their service life, Swiss Mirages received several upgrades, including the installation of a [[Martin-Baker]] Mk 6 ejection seat, a radar warning receiver, and a TRACOR AN/ALE-40 chaff/flare dispenser positioned at the back under the rear of the fuselage.<ref>{{harvnb|Chenel|Liébert|Moreau|2014|page=91}}</ref> Starting in 1988, canards and strakes designed by [[Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein|FFA]] and [[:de:Eidgenössisches Flugzeugwerk|F+W]] in cooperation with Dassault, and produced in Switzerland, were fitted to the type.<ref>{{harvnb|Chenel|Liébert|Moreau|2014|pages=91-93}}</ref> In 1999, Switzerland phased out the last of its Mirage IIIS fleet; the remaining Mirage IIIRS, BS and DS variants were taken out of service in 2003.<ref name="SAF-Aircraft">[http://www.lw.admin.ch/internet/luftwaffe/en/home/dokumentation/assets/aircraft/historical.html "Historical aircraft."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728131122/http://www.lw.admin.ch/internet/luftwaffe/en/home/dokumentation/assets/aircraft/historical.html |date=28 July 2011 }} ''Swiss Air Force.'' Retrieved 9 April 2010.</ref>