Arguably the greatest French aircraft ever designed, the Dassault Mirage III was one of the most popular aircraft of the Cold War and continues to serve in a myriad of foreign airforces to this day. Key to its success was a cheap but effective design, much in the same league as its Soviet equivalent, the MiG-21 or the US F-104, and was the first European aircraft which flew at speeds over Mach 2. The Mirage III entered service in the early 1960s as a standard light interceptor but was vastly improved through the years, turning eventually into a multi-role fighter with more advanced avionics and weapons. Moreso, many subsequent French aircraft have been based on the Mirage III: these include the Mirage 5, the considerably larger Mirage IV nuclear bomber, and the more modern Mirage 2000 fourth-generation fighter, all of them with the same delta-wing configuration which characterized this wonderful aircraft. Its tremendous export success in over 20 foreign air forces has also led to some indigenous designed by former clients like the Israeli Kfir and the South African Cheetah with additional local production in Australia and Switzerland. It is in foreign hands that the Mirage III has found the grand majority of its combat experience, being used by Israel with great success in the Six-Day War in 1967 and currently still in front-line service with numerous air forces thanks to its low cost and high effectiveness.

First flight of the Mirage III took place as early as 17 November 1956 and entered service as the Mirage IIIC in 1961. The Mirage IIIC was the main production variant until replaced by the highly improved Mirage IIIE, this variant featured a lengthened fuselage and was optimized as a long-range fighter. These are complemented by a two-seat trainer variant, designated Mirage IIIB (without radar) and a dedicated reconnaissance variant known as the Mirage IIIR which can be configured with limited combat capability also. The Mirage IIIR has its radar removed in place of up to five Omera Type 33/40 optical cameras. Finally, a range of upgrades have resulted in the Mirage 3NG (Nouvelle Génération) which features the more powerful Atar 9K-50 engine of the Mirage 50 as well as canard foreplanes to improve maneuvrability.