In 1958, the Mirage III became the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in level flight. The Mirage IIIC entered French service by 1961. The Mirage F1 first flew in 1966 and could land about 60 knots slower than the Mirage III. The Mirage 2000 first flew in 1978 and introduced fly-by-wire…
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