Dassault Mirage IIIS
Switzerland's licence-built Mirage — strengthened for cavern bases, Hughes radar and Falcon missiles · In service 1967 · Retired 2003 (IIIRS)
Switzerland chose the Mirage III in the early 1960s and planned to build 100 under licence at F+W Emmen as the Mirage IIIS, a single model meant to cover interception, attack and reconnaissance. Swiss-specific changes and weak cost control drove the price up, and the resulting 'Mirage affair' led to several officials resigning. The order was cut to 36 IIIS interceptors and 18 IIIRS reconnaissance aircraft.
The IIIS was based on the IIIE but strengthened to a standard close to carrier aircraft. It had four lifting points, a retractable nose cone and longer nosewheel legs, so it could be moved by crane inside the Swiss Air Force's cramped mountain caverns, and the tougher structure also allowed JATO-assisted short take-offs. The avionics came from the US, built around a Hughes TARAN-18 radar, with Falcon and Sidewinder missiles. The IIIRS carried cameras in the nose and could take a ventral reconnaissance pod.
The IIIS entered service in 1967 and the IIIRS followed two years later. From 1988 both received Swiss-designed canards and nose strakes, developed with Dassault, along with a Martin-Baker seat and new self-protection equipment. The last IIIS interceptors retired in 1999, and the IIIRS, IIIBS and IIIDS left service in 2003.
