Editing Dassault Mirage III (section)

===Israel===
[[File:Meitar Collection (997009327157005171.jpg|thumb|A Mirage IIICJ armed with a [[Matra R530]] in 1967]]
On 29 November 1966, the pilot of an Israeli Air Force Dassault Mirage III shot down two Egyptian [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19|MiG-19s]] which were trying to intercept an Israeli reconnaissance [[Piper J-3 Cub]] in Israeli airspace. The first MiG was destroyed with a [[R.530]] radar guided missile fired from less than a mile away, marking the first aerial kill for the French-made missile. The second MiG-19 was dispatched with cannon fire.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jta.org/1966/11/30/archive/israeli-pilot-shoots-down-two-egyptian-soviet-made-mig-jets |title=Israeli Pilot Shoots Down Two Egyptian Soviet-made Mig Jets |access-date=13 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414092018/https://www.jta.org/1966/11/30/archive/israeli-pilot-shoots-down-two-egyptian-soviet-made-mig-jets |archive-date=14 April 2018 |url-status=live |date=30 November 1966 }}</ref>

====Six-Day War====
During the [[Six-Day War]], fought between 5 and 10 June 1967, Israel deployed a small detachment of 12 Mirages (comprising 4 permanently in the air and 8 at a high state of readiness on the ground) to defend the skies of Israel against attacks by hostile bombers, virtually all other Mirages were equipped with bombs and deployed on bombing raids against Arab air bases. Reportedly, the Mirage's performance as a bomber was modest at best, perhaps due to its limited payload capacity. During the first day of combat, a total of 6 MiG fighters were claimed to have been shot down by Mirage pilots. During the following days, Israeli Mirages typically performed as fighters; out of a claimed total of 58 Arab aircraft shot down in air combat during the conflict, 48 were accounted for by Mirage pilots.<ref name="air aces">{{cite web|last=Šafařík|first=Jan J.|title=Attributed Israeli Air Combat Victories|url=http://aces.safarikovi.org/victories/victories-israel.html|work=Air Aces|access-date=28 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815145038/http://aces.safarikovi.org/victories/victories-israel.html|archive-date=15 August 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Yom Kippur War====

During the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], the Mirage fleet was solely engaged in air-to-air operations. ACIG.org claims that at least 26 Mirages and Neshers were lost in air-to-air combat during the war.<ref>[http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=185&Itemid=47 "Egyptian Air-to-Air Victories since 1948."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054810/http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=185&Itemid=47 |date=21 September 2013 }} ''ACIG.'' Retrieved: 25 August 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=47 "Syrian Air-to-Air Victories since 1948."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060008/http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=47 |date=21 September 2013 }} ''ACIG.'' Retrieved: 25 August 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=47 "Iraqi Air-to-Air Victories since 1967."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219172206/http://www.acig.info/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=47 |date=19 December 2016 }}''ACIG.'' Retrieved: 25 August 2013.</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=December 2014}} Contrary to these claims, formal Israeli sources claim that only five [[Israeli Air Force]] aircraft were shot down in air-to-air dogfights.<ref>{{cite web|title=Downing|url=http://www.iaf.org.il/43-he/IAF.aspx|work=Israeli Air Force official site|access-date=28 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221020451/http://www.iaf.org.il/43-HE/IAF.aspx|archive-date=21 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In comparison, 106 Syrian and Egyptian aircraft were claimed shot down by Israeli Mirage IIICJ planes, and another 140 aircraft were claimed by the Nesher derivative.<ref name="air aces"/> Israeli Air Force pilot [[Giora Epstein]], "ace of aces" of modern, supersonic fighter jets, achieved all of his victories flying either the Mirage IIICJ or the [[IAI Nesher]] (An Israeli derivative of the Mirage 5, which were in turn developed from the Mirage III).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Best Pilot|url=http://www.amazing-airplanes.com/amazing_acheivements/best_pilot.php|work=Amazing Airplanes|access-date=28 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204005153/http://www.amazing-airplanes.com/amazing_acheivements/best_pilot.php|archive-date=4 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>