Editing Dassault Mirage III (section)

===Mirage IIIC and Mirage IIIB===

The first major production model, the ''Mirage IIIC'', first flew in October 1960.<ref name = "prof 176">Brindley 1971, p. 176.</ref> The IIIC was largely similar to the earlier IIIA, being less than a half meter longer and featuring a full operational fit. The Mirage IIIC was a single-seat interceptor, with an Atar 09B turbojet engine, featuring an eyelid type variable exhaust.{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}} The Mirage IIIC was armed with twin 30&nbsp;mm [[DEFA cannon]] fitted in the belly with the gun ports under the air intakes. Early production Mirage IIICs had three stores pylons, one under the fuselage and one under each wing; another outboard pylon was soon added to each wing, for a total of five, excluding a sleek supersonic tank which also had bomb-carrying capacity. The outboard pylon was intended to carry an [[AIM-9B Sidewinder]] air-to-air missile, later replaced by the [[Matra R550 Magic]] and was also armed with the radar guided [[Matra R530]] Missile on the center line pylon.{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}}

[[File:SAAF Mirage III BZ 817 (11071140784).jpg|thumb|left|[[South African Air Force]] Mirage IIIBZ]]

A total of 95 Mirage IIICs were obtained by the [[French Air Force]] (''Armée de l'Air'', AdA), with initial operational deliveries in July 1961.<ref name = "prof 176"/> The Mirage IIIC remained in service with the AdA until 1988.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.airvectors.net/avmir3_1.html#m2 |title=&#91;1.0&#93; the Mirage III, 5, & 50 |access-date=19 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406225450/http://www.airvectors.net/avmir3_1.html#m2 |archive-date=6 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ''Armée de l'Air'' also placed an order for a two-seat ''Mirage IIIB'' operational trainer.<ref name = "prof 176"/> Performing its first flight on 21 October 1959, it was developed in parallel with the Mirage IIIC. The fuselage was stretched about a meter (3&nbsp;ft 3.5&nbsp;in), while both cannons were removed to accommodate the second seat.<ref name = "prof 176"/> The IIIB lacked radar and provision for the SEPR rocket was also deleted, although it could carry external stores if desired.<ref name = "prof 176"/> The AdA ordered 63 Mirage IIIBs (including the prototype), including five ''Mirage IIIB-1'' trials aircraft, ten ''Mirage IIIB-2(RV)'' [[inflight refueling]] trainers with dummy nose probes, used for training [[Dassault Mirage IV|Mirage IVA]] bomber pilots, and 20 ''Mirage IIIBE''s, with the engine and some other features of the multi-role Mirage IIIE.<ref name = "prof 176 177">Brindley 1971, pp. 176–177.</ref> One Mirage IIIB was fitted with a [[fly-by-wire]] flight control system in the mid-1970s and redesignated ''Mirage IIIB-SV'' (''Stabilité Variable''), it was used as a testbed for the system in the later [[Mirage 2000]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}}