The Mach 3 Dassault MD.750 Mirage

‘Serpent trisonique’

Dassault Mach 3 Mirage (1958 onwards)

CREDIT: DASSAULT

Consumed with the contemporary desire for ever-faster aircraft, the state-owned Nord Aviation and Dassault launched studies into Mach 3+ fighters from 1958, known respectively as the Super Griffon and Mirage VIA projects. These appeared overly ambitious and were not given much priority until 1964, when it became apparent that both the USA and USSR had started the production of Mach 3-capable warplanes. This led to a call for tenders for extremely fast aircraft, issued by the Centre de Prospective et d’Evaluations (CPE) on 14 December 1965, to Bréguet, Dassault, Nord and Sud Aviation. Proposals from Dassault and Sud were accepted in May 1966.