Difference between revisions of "Mirage 4000"

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== Description ==
 
== Description ==
 
<!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of and the creation and combat usage of the aircraft, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the aircraft in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' -->
 
<!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of and the creation and combat usage of the aircraft, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the aircraft in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' -->
−
During the 1970s, after the French evaluation of the [[F-15A]] fell through, Dassault took part into a private venture to build a "heavy fighter-interceptor" of similar magnitude as the F-15, primarily for the French Air Force and export to close french allies. By the end of the decade, they had completed the Mirage 4000, which at first glance appeared to be a scaled-up [[Mirage 2000 (Family)|Mirage 2000]] with canards and double the engines. The Mirage 4000 however was more than meets the eye, being armed with a large amount of air-to-air missiles for its interception role, and with powerful SNECMA M53 engines to give it unrivaled thrust for its time, the Mirage 4000 was better than the early F-15As in most ways. However, the French Air Force found the aircraft too expensive to field and decided to pursue further upgrades of the [[Mirage 2000C-S5|Mirage 2000]] instead. As for the export customers, most either bought the F-15A instead due to political pressure, or in the case of Iran, had a revolution which severed the alliance with France and prevented them from buying the Mirage 4000. In the end, only one Mirage 4000 was built, which made 300+ test flights and airshow demonstrations, before being moved to its final resting place at the Musée de l'air et de l'espace (Paris Air and Space Museum) in November 1992. Much of the technology and experience gained from the Mirage 4000 would be used in the Dassault Rafale shortly after.
 
  
−
The '''{{Specs|name}}''' is a rank {{Specs|rank}} French fighter-interceptor introduced in [[Update "Air Superiority"]]. It is a direct developement of the older Mirage 2000, and the ultimate culmination of the Mirage family. Ingame, the aircraft serves a true multipurpose role, having incredible dogfighting performance and up to 8x [[Matra R550 Magic 2|R.550 Magic 2]] all aspect missiles for close-in dogfighting, up to four [[Matra Super 530D|Super 530D]] missiles and a powerful radar for BVR combat, and even the ATLIS targeting pod and a respectable amount of laser guided bombs and AGMs for heavy CAS duty. All in all, the Mirage 4000 serves as a true reward at the end of the french ranks, building upon the playstyles learned from the previous [[Mirage 2000 (Family)|Mirage 2000]]<nowiki/>s and the [[F-8E(FN) (France)|F-8E (FN)]].  
+
During the 1970s, after the French evaluation of the [[F-15A]] fell through, Dassault took part in a private venture to build a "heavy fighter-interceptor" of similar magnitude as the F-15, primarily for the French Air Force and export to close French allies. By the end of the decade, they had completed the '''Mirage 4000''', which at first glance appeared to be a scaled-up [[Mirage 2000 (Family)|Mirage 2000]] with canards and double the engines. The Mirage 4000 however was more than meets the eye, being armed with a large amount of air-to-air missiles for its interception role, and with powerful SNECMA M53 engines to give it unrivaled thrust for its time, the Mirage 4000 was better than the early F-15As in most ways. However, the French Air Force found the aircraft too expensive to field and decided to pursue further upgrades of the [[Mirage 2000C-S5|Mirage 2000]] instead. As for the export customers, most either bought the F-15A instead due to political pressure, or in the case of Iran, had a revolution which severed the alliance with France and prevented them from buying the Mirage 4000. In the end, only one Mirage 4000 was built, which made 300+ test flights and airshow demonstrations, before being moved to its final resting place at the Musée de l'air et de l'espace (Paris Air and Space Museum) in November 1992. Much of the technology and experience gained from the Mirage 4000 would be used in the Dassault Rafale shortly after.
 +
 
 +
Introduced in [[Update "Air Superiority"]], the Mirage 4000 is a direct development of the older Mirage 2000, and the ultimate culmination of the Mirage family. The aircraft can serve a true multipurpose role, having incredible dogfighting performance and up to 8 x [[Matra R550 Magic 2|R.550 Magic 2]] all-aspect missiles for close-in dogfighting, up to four [[Matra Super 530D|Super 530D]] missiles and a powerful radar for BVR combat, and even the ATLIS targeting pod and a respectable amount of laser-guided bombs and AGMs for heavy CAS duty. All in all, the Mirage 4000 serves as a true reward at the end of the French ranks, building upon the playstyles learned from the previous [[Mirage 2000 (Family)|Mirage 2000s]] and the [[F-8E(FN) (France)|F-8E (FN)]].
  
 
== General info ==
 
== General info ==
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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="70%"
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" width="70%"
 
! rowspan="2" | Characteristics
 
! rowspan="2" | Characteristics
−
! colspan="2" | Max speed<br>(km/h at _,___ m)
+
! colspan="2" | Max speed<br>(km/h at 12,000 m)
 
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude<br>(metres)
 
! rowspan="2" | Max altitude<br>(metres)
 
! colspan="2" | Turn time<br>(seconds)
 
! colspan="2" | Turn time<br>(seconds)
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|-
 
|-
 
! Stock
 
! Stock
−
| ___ || ___ || rowspan="2" | {{Specs|ceiling}} || __._ || __._ || __._ || __._ || rowspan="2" | ___
+
| 2,224 ||2,174|| rowspan="2" | {{Specs|ceiling}} || 23.9 || 24.8 || 229.0 || 216.9 || rowspan="2" | 750
 
|-
 
|-
 
! Upgraded
 
! Upgraded
−
| ___ || ___ || __._ || __._ || __._ || __._
+
| 2,410 || 2,318 || 23.3 || 23.5 || 325.2 || 275.0
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
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! Combat !! Take-off !! Landing !! + !! -
 
! Combat !! Take-off !! Landing !! + !! -
 
|-
 
|-
−
| 1,555 <!-- {{Specs|destruction|body}} --> || {{Specs|destruction|gear}} || - || - || - || ~__ || ~__
+
| 1,560 <!-- {{Specs|destruction|body}} --> || {{Specs|destruction|gear}} || - || - || - || ~14 || ~__
 
|-
 
|-
 
|}
 
|}
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{{Specs-Avia-Armour}}
 
{{Specs-Avia-Armour}}
 
<!-- ''Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.'' -->
 
<!-- ''Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.'' -->
−
''Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.''
+
 
 +
Just like most other top rank jets, it is very vulnerable to gunfire and missiles alike, meaning it is most important to avoid getting hit at all in the first place. An upside however is that it can stay in the air even with just one engine left and the large airframe makes hits to non-critical components more likely than with tight packed aircraft like the F-16 series for example. Keep in mind that even hits that don't outright destroy you will still make a very noticeable impact on maximum speed and flight performance, rendering a retreat to the airfield the best option in many cases.
  
 
=== Modifications and economy ===
 
=== Modifications and economy ===
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* 2 x 2,500 l drop tanks
 
* 2 x 2,500 l drop tanks
−
* 2 x Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles
+
* 2 x Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles + 2 x Matra Super 530D missiles
 
* 6 x Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles
 
* 6 x Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles
 
* 8 x Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles
 
* 8 x Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles
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== Usage in battles ==
 
== Usage in battles ==
 
<!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' -->
 
<!-- ''Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).'' -->
−
''Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).''
+
The "Super Mirage" is certainly an interesting plane. It is the bigger and stronger brother of the Mirage 2000, that might not have as many aces up its sleeve compared to the Mirage 2000-5F with its HMD and PD radar, but it more than makes up for it thrust, armament and agility.
 +
 
 +
While the Mirage 4000 is a heavier and therefore less manoeuvrable plane than the Mirage 2000, the addition of the canards and the extra power of the engines make it one of the best turning jets in-game, falling behind only the F-16A in raw manoeuvrability. It however remains a plane that is almost twice as heavy as its little brother, meaning that while it has great thrust, great turning capability and does not lose speed as fast as a Mirage 2000, you will feel that it is way less responsive, especially at lower speeds.
 +
 
 +
Overall, the Mirage 4000 is like having 2 Mirage 2000s glued together: twice the weight, twice the engine power, twice the missiles, twice the carrying capacity.
 +
 
 +
;Air Realistic Battles,
 +
 
 +
The Mirage 4000 can be used in multiple roles, Including being a missile bus, Support aircraft and even somewhat of a dogfighter. The best way to use the Mirage 4000 in Air RB is to use your high speed to get into a flanking position possibly bombing one base and then firing missiles at unsuspecting enemies. Afterwards, there are multiple possibilities. Either getting away in order to reposition and gain energy, or going straight into the "furball". Both options are possible due to the Mirage's Superior speed, Thrust, Energy retention and agility. The Mirage 4000 is a jack of all trades, being able to fill any role, but not being the best at any of them. You should always keep a good awareness of your surroundings and keep your energy up. Do not get stuck in extended turn fights.
 +
 
 +
The Mirage 4000 is as fuel efficient as the Mirage 2000, meaning that 20 minutes is enough if you do not afterburn all the way to the battle. Packing 30 minutes fuel ensures you better endurance, while 40 minutes fuel can extend your endurance further. The Mirage 4000 has multiple options of fuel tanks: either 2 x large drop tanks, with around 20 minutes of fuel; or 2 x smaller fuel tanks, carrying around 4 minutes of fuel can also be installed. These fuel tanks cannot be dropped, they are installed on the innermost armament pylons, but can however hold 2 x Magic II missiles each. In practice, this means that if you wish to take 8 x missiles, you have to take these fuel tanks, which make the plane slightly heavier. If you wish to take 4 x Super 530Ds, You will be limiting yourself to 6 x missiles. The most well rounded loadout for the Mirage 4000 would be the 2 x small fuel tanks, each carrying 2 x Matra Magic II Missiles, 2 x Super 530Ds along with the outer-most pylon Magic IIs, bringing you to a total of 6 x IR missiles and 2 x radar missiles. A payload of 11 x 250 kg bombs can be taken on the pylons under the fuselage, letting you destroy one base.
 +
 
 +
;Ground Realistic Battles
 +
 
 +
The Mirage 4000 is a very scary plane. It can carry a good amount of ordnance. While the ordnance is not fire-and-forget, it packs a punch. A big downside is that the Mirage 4000 only gets access to an ALTIS II targetting pod, which does not have any thermal capability. In practice, this means that the Mirage 4000 is useless at ground pounding if the weather conditions are cloudy, foggy or in low light conditions. Spotting targets is also harder, however the zoom of the ALTIS II is better than on the DAMOCLES targetting pod of the Mirage 2000-5F.
 +
The Most effective loadout for Ground RB is 4 x AS-30L missiles, which are very lethal with a direct hit, and 2 x BGL-1000 laser-guided bombs.
 +
The first thing you should do after spawning in is searching for enemy SPAA. If you have not identified SPAA in around 5 seconds after spawning in, you should dive and put distance, objects or terrain between you and the battlefield as soon as possible, in order to avoid any possible missiles coming at you. Do keep in mind that a missile can be guided to you even if no one is hard locking you. SPAAs at this tier have IRST and even TWS, making it especially hard to know a missile is fired at you unless you clearly see the launch.
 +
When the threat (SPAA) is eliminated, you can finally start getting close and destroying ground targets. You should constantly keep your eyes on the RWR in case any plane spawns in.
 +
Try not to turn a lot. The Mirage 4000 becomes very vulnerable once it lost all of its speed. You should do passes and bombing runs rather than staying right above the battlefield and dropping ordnance.
 +
 
 +
Overall, the Super Mirage is a truly capable multirole aircraft, that is more than capable at dealing with any situation one might throw at it. This however does not mean that the plane is clearly superior to anything else it might fight, quite the opposite. It just lets the pilot do some things other planes do not. It can be a scary and formidable foe to fight against.
 +
 
 +
It is a plane with which you can play in your own playstyle, rather than forcing you into a playstyle of its own.
  
 
=== Pros and cons ===
 
=== Pros and cons ===
 
<!-- ''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".'' -->
 
<!-- ''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".'' -->
−
''Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".''
 
  
 
'''Pros:'''
 
'''Pros:'''
  
−
*
+
* Excellent flight performance in all situations
 +
* Magic 2 missiles are very effective and it carries up to 8 of them
 +
* Has access to Super 530D radar missiles
 +
* Wide variety of air-to-ground weapons, like various (guided) bombs, guided missiles and rockets
  
 
'''Cons:'''
 
'''Cons:'''
  
−
*
+
* Super 530D missiles lag behind contemporaries like R-27ER and AIM-7M at short range
 +
* Easy to bleed speed in extended turns, at which point it becomes vulnerable to faster foes
 +
* Lack of an HMD
  
 
== History ==
 
== History ==
 
<!-- ''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).'' -->
 
<!-- ''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).'' -->
−
''Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: <nowiki>https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History</nowiki>) and add a link to it here using the <code>main</code> template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <code><nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki></code>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code>. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under <code><nowiki>=== In-game description ===</nowiki></code>, also if applicable).''
+
In 1970, France, which was already a well-recognized aircraft manufacturer, decided to develop 4th gen fighters. The project led to the [[Mirage 2000 (Family)|Mirage 2000]], which was an incredible success, and the Mirage 4000. Most majors of the French Air Force wanted a versatile twin-jet. The Super Mirage was at first designed to be a successor to the Mirage IV nuclear bomber, launched on the personal initiative of Marcel Dassault, being the last European combat aircraft financed with its manufacturer's own funds. It was designed to have a similar size to the [[Su-27 (Family)|Sukhoi Su-27]] or the [[F-15 (Family)|McDonnell Douglas F-15]].
 +
 
 +
Dassault-Breguet used knowledge gained from the Mirage F2 to create the Super Mirage. After that, the French majors abandoned the idea of it being a fighter-bomber and designed it to be a fighter, more manoeuvrable than the F-15. The F-15 prototypes had an angle of incidence of 19° while the Mirage 4000 had one of a whopping 26°. The F-15 had a maximum G-forces limit of 7G, but the Mirage had one of 9G+. It is mostly composed of composite materials to make it as light as possible and could hold three times more fuel than its little brother. The Super Mirage's engines were picked from the Mirage 2000 project; it was basically a Mirage 2000, but bigger, hence the name.
 +
 
 +
The Super Mirage 4000 had its first flight on 9th March 1979 with test pilot Jean-Marie Saget. From its sixth flight, it reached Mach-2, for comparison, the Mirage 2000 can go Mach 2.2. Its weight is 10,200 kg, while the Mirage 4000 weighed 18,800 kg and could go 105 km/h faster (2,340 km/h for the Mirage 2000 and 2,445 km/h for the Super Mirage). It had an amazing climb rate as it could go up to 50,000fts in just 3m50. It had 11 hard points, and was able to carry various armaments including the radar pod "Antilope V", [[Matra R550 Magic 2]], and [[Matra Super 530D]].
 +
 
 +
The King of Saudi Arabia, "Khaled ben Abdelaziz Al Saoud", the Shah of Iran, "Mohammad Reza Chah Pahlavi", and the Iraqi government were interested in the project. However, after long discussions with Saudi Arabia and Iran, a deal was not able to be concluded. Sources suspect that Iraq wanted it as a "budget" F-15, as French aircraft have usually the best quality/price ratio for Iraq and similar nations. It was a logical choice for Iraq as they already operated the [[Mirage F1 (Family)|Mirage F1]].
 +
 
 +
The majors of the French Air Force didn't want to industrialize the Super Mirage, the expected 5 Mirage 4000 were canceled because of the loss of funds. Since it wasn't ordered, it couldn't be exported, leading to failure. In December 1977, the Air Force asked the Aeronautical Construction Directorate of the Ministry of Defense to conduct a review of a tactical combat aircraft (ACT in French, and TCA in English), intended to succeed the Jaguars. Dassault-Breguet then began studying the ACX/Rafale.
 +
 
 +
The Super Mirage 4000 made a whopping 336 test flights, with the last one on the 8th of January 1988. The Super Mirage was later delivered to the https://www.museeairespace.fr/en Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace du Bourget in a "desert" livery. In 2002, the association "IT Mercure" repainted it in its iconic livery, which it features in-game.
  
 
== Media ==
 
== Media ==
 
<!-- ''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.'' -->
 
<!-- ''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.'' -->
−
''Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.''
+
 
 +
;Skins
 +
 
 +
* [https://live.warthunder.com/feed/camouflages/?vehicle=mirage_4000 Skins and camouflages for the {{PAGENAME}} from live.warthunder.com.]
 +
 
 +
;Videos
 +
{{Youtube-gallery|NUuKlydTMUc|'''The Shooting Range #392''' - ''Metal Beasts'' section at 00:25 discusses the {{PAGENAME}}.|YpAvtM4iUWo|'''The Shooting Range #390''' - ''Arsenal'' section at 07:08 discusses the {{PAGENAME}}.}}
  
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
Line 241: Line 285:
 
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.'' -->
 
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.'' -->
 
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''
 
''Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:''
−
 
 
* ''reference to the series of the aircraft;''
 
* ''reference to the series of the aircraft;''
 
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''
 
* ''links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.''
Line 249: Line 292:
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
 
* ''other literature.'' -->
 
* ''other literature.'' -->
−
''Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:''
 
  
−
* ''topic on the official game forum;''
+
* [https://www.museeairespace.fr/aller-plus-haut/collections/dassault-super-mirage-4000/ <nowiki>[Le musée de l'Air et de l'Espace]</nowiki> Dassault Super Mirage 4000]
−
* ''other literature.''
+
* [https://itmercurelebourget.wordpress.com/ IT Mercure]
 +
* [https://www.dassault-aviation.com/en/passion/aircraft/military-dassault-aircraft/mirage-4000/ <nowiki>[Dassault Aviation]</nowiki> Mirage 4000]
  
 
{{AirManufacturer Dassault}}
 
{{AirManufacturer Dassault}}
 
{{France jet aircraft}}
 
{{France jet aircraft}}

Latest revision as of 07:44, 26 August 2024

Rank VI USSR | Premium | Golden Eagles
Su-25K Pack
Mirage 4000
mirage_4000.png
GarageImage Mirage 4000.jpg
Mirage 4000
France flag.png France
VIII Rank
Battle rating:
AB RB SB
12.7 13.0 13.0
Class:
Research:400 000 Specs-Card-Exp.png
Purchase:1 080 000 Specs-Card-Lion.png
Show in game

Description

During the 1970s, after the French evaluation of the F-15A fell through, Dassault took part in a private venture to build a "heavy fighter-interceptor" of similar magnitude as the F-15, primarily for the French Air Force and export to close French allies. By the end of the decade, they had completed the Mirage 4000, which at first glance appeared to be a scaled-up Mirage 2000 with canards and double the engines. The Mirage 4000 however was more than meets the eye, being armed with a large amount of air-to-air missiles for its interception role, and with powerful SNECMA M53 engines to give it unrivaled thrust for its time, the Mirage 4000 was better than the early F-15As in most ways. However, the French Air Force found the aircraft too expensive to field and decided to pursue further upgrades of the Mirage 2000 instead. As for the export customers, most either bought the F-15A instead due to political pressure, or in the case of Iran, had a revolution which severed the alliance with France and prevented them from buying the Mirage 4000. In the end, only one Mirage 4000 was built, which made 300+ test flights and airshow demonstrations, before being moved to its final resting place at the Musée de l'air et de l'espace (Paris Air and Space Museum) in November 1992. Much of the technology and experience gained from the Mirage 4000 would be used in the Dassault Rafale shortly after.

Introduced in Update "Air Superiority", the Mirage 4000 is a direct development of the older Mirage 2000, and the ultimate culmination of the Mirage family. The aircraft can serve a true multipurpose role, having incredible dogfighting performance and up to 8 x R.550 Magic 2 all-aspect missiles for close-in dogfighting, up to four Super 530D missiles and a powerful radar for BVR combat, and even the ATLIS targeting pod and a respectable amount of laser-guided bombs and AGMs for heavy CAS duty. All in all, the Mirage 4000 serves as a true reward at the end of the French ranks, building upon the playstyles learned from the previous Mirage 2000s and the F-8E (FN).

General info

Flight performance

Air brakes
Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps
Drogue parachute
Reduces braking distance when landing on any runway
Max speed
at 12 000 m2 318 km/h
Turn time23 s
Max altitude16 000 m
Engine2 х SNECMA M53-P2
TypeJet
Cooling systemAir
Take-off weight63 t

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics Max speed
(km/h at 12,000 m) 		Max altitude
(metres) 		Turn time
(seconds) 		Rate of climb
(metres/second) 		Take-off run
(metres)
AB RB AB RB AB RB
Stock 2,224 2,174 16000 23.9 24.8 229.0 216.9 750
Upgraded 2,410 2,318 23.3 23.5 325.2 275.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps Take-off flaps Landing flaps Air brakes Arrestor gear Drogue chute
X X X ✓ X ✓
Limits
Wings (km/h) Gear (km/h) Flaps (km/h) Max Static G
Combat Take-off Landing + -
1,560 426 - - - ~14 ~__
Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons Rudder Elevators Radiator
< 920 < 750 < 650 -

Engine performance

Engine Aircraft mass
Engine name Number Basic mass Wing loading (full fuel)
SNECMA M53-P2 2 13,000 kg 303 kg/m2
Engine characteristics Mass with fuel (no weapons load) Max Gross
Weight
Weight (each) Type 13m fuel 20m fuel 30m fuel 40m fuel
1,515 kg Afterburning low-bypass turbofan 15,640 kg 17,343 kg 19,515 kg 21,800 kg 31,854 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB) Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP)
Condition 100% WEP 13m fuel 20m fuel 30m fuel 40m fuel MGW
Stationary 6,250 kgf 9,745 kgf 1.25 1.12 1.00 0.89 0.61
Optimal 7,194 kgf
(1,555 km/h) 		13,713 kgf
(1,555 km/h) 		1.75 1.58 1.41 1.26 0.86

Survivability and armour

Flares/Chaff
Aircraft countermeasures to distract IR and radar-guided missiles and also AA radar
Crew1 person
Speed of destruction
Structural0 km/h
Gear426 km/h

Just like most other top rank jets, it is very vulnerable to gunfire and missiles alike, meaning it is most important to avoid getting hit at all in the first place. An upside however is that it can stay in the air even with just one engine left and the large airframe makes hits to non-critical components more likely than with tight packed aircraft like the F-16 series for example. Keep in mind that even hits that don't outright destroy you will still make a very noticeable impact on maximum speed and flight performance, rendering a retreat to the airfield the best option in many cases.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference
AB3 029 → 4 392 Sl icon.png
RB8 752 → 12 690 Sl icon.png
SB10 322 → 14 966 Sl icon.png
Total cost of modifications309 000 Rp icon.png
469 000 Sl icon.png
Talisman cost3 100 Ge icon.png
Crew training310 000 Sl icon.png
Experts1 080 000 Sl icon.png
Aces3 400 Ge icon.png
Research Aces1 280 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
90 / 320 / 490 % Sl icon.png
250 / 250 / 250 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Flight performance Survivability Weaponry
Mods jet compressor.png
Compressor
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mods booster.png
New boosters
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mods jet engine.png
Engine
Research:
17 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
26 000 Sl icon.png
620 Ge icon.png
Mods aerodinamic fuse.png
Fuselage repair
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mods armor frame.png
Airframe
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mods aerodinamic wing.png
Wings repair
Research:
15 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
23 000 Sl icon.png
550 Ge icon.png
Mods armor cover.png
Cover
Research:
17 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
26 000 Sl icon.png
620 Ge icon.png
Mods heli false thermal targets.png
Flares/Chaff
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mods ammo.png
aden_belt_pack
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 1.png
Mods pilon block rocket.png
Matra JL-100R
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mods g suit.png
G-suit
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mods pilon bomb.png
Type 25C
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods night vision device.png
ATLIS II
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods air to air missile.png
Matra R550 Magic 2
Research:
12 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
18 000 Sl icon.png
440 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods weapon.png
aden_new_gun
Research:
15 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
23 000 Sl icon.png
550 Ge icon.png
Mods pilon bomb.png
Mk83
Research:
15 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
23 000 Sl icon.png
550 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods agm missile.png
AS30L
Research:
15 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
23 000 Sl icon.png
550 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods air to air missile.png
Matra 530F
Research:
15 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
23 000 Sl icon.png
550 Ge icon.png
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods jet engine extinguisher.png
EFS
Research:
17 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
26 000 Sl icon.png
620 Ge icon.png
Mods pilon bomb.png
Mk84
Research:
17 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
26 000 Sl icon.png
620 Ge icon.png
Mods laser guided bomb.png
BGL-1000
Research:
17 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
26 000 Sl icon.png
620 Ge icon.png
Mods air to air missile.png
Matra 530D
Research:
17 000 Rp icon.png
Cost:
26 000 Sl icon.png
620 Ge icon.png

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns) CCIP (Rockets) CCIP (Bombs) CCRP (Bombs) Lead indicator
Icon GreenCheckmark.png Icon GreenCheckmark.png Icon GreenCheckmark.png Icon GreenCheckmark.png Icon GreenCheckmark.png

Offensive armament

Main article: DEFA 554 (30 mm)

The Mirage 4000 is armed with:

  • 2 x 30 mm DEFA 554 cannons, wing root-mounted (125 rpg = 250 total)

Suspended armament

The Mirage 4000 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Hardpoints Mirage 4000.png
250 kg SAMP Type 25 bombs 1 1 1 1 9 1 1 1 1
250 kg SAMP Type 25 200 bombs 1 1 1 1 9 1 1 1 1
1,000 lb SAMP Mk 83 bombs 1 1 2 1 1
2,000 lb SAMP Mk 84 bombs 1 1 2 1 1
970 kg BGL-1000 bombs 2†
SNEB type 23 rockets 18 18 18 18
AS-30L Nord missiles 1† 1† 1† 1†
Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles 1 1 1, 2* 1, 2* 1 1
Matra Super 530D missiles 1 1 1 1
Matra Super 530F missiles 1 1 1 1
Large calibre countermeasures 56 56
ATLIS II targeting pod 1†
500 l drop tanks 1* 1*
2,500 l drop tanks 1 1
Maximum permissible weight imbalance: 1,500 kg
* 500 litre drop tanks can only be equipped with dual Magic 2 missiles on the same hardpoint
† ATLIS II pod must be equipped when equipping guided air-to-ground ordnance
Default weapon presets
  • 2 x 2,500 l drop tanks
  • 2 x Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles + 2 x Matra Super 530D missiles
  • 6 x Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles
  • 8 x Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles
  • 8 x Matra R550 Magic 2 missiles + 2 x 500 l drop tanks
  • 72 x SNEB type 23 rockets
  • 4 x AS-30L Nord missiles
  • 4 x Matra Super 530F missiles
  • 4 x Matra Super 530D missiles
  • 17 x 250 kg SAMP Type 25 bombs (4,250 kg total)
  • 17 x 250 kg SAMP Type 25 200 bombs (4,250 kg total)
  • 6 x 1,000 lb SAMP Mk 83 bombs (6,000 lb total)
  • 6 x 2,000 lb SAMP Mk 84 bombs (12,000 lb total)
  • 2 x 970 kg BGL-1000 bombs (1,940 kg total)
  • 112 x large calibre countermeasures

Usage in battles

The "Super Mirage" is certainly an interesting plane. It is the bigger and stronger brother of the Mirage 2000, that might not have as many aces up its sleeve compared to the Mirage 2000-5F with its HMD and PD radar, but it more than makes up for it thrust, armament and agility.

While the Mirage 4000 is a heavier and therefore less manoeuvrable plane than the Mirage 2000, the addition of the canards and the extra power of the engines make it one of the best turning jets in-game, falling behind only the F-16A in raw manoeuvrability. It however remains a plane that is almost twice as heavy as its little brother, meaning that while it has great thrust, great turning capability and does not lose speed as fast as a Mirage 2000, you will feel that it is way less responsive, especially at lower speeds.

Overall, the Mirage 4000 is like having 2 Mirage 2000s glued together: twice the weight, twice the engine power, twice the missiles, twice the carrying capacity.

Air Realistic Battles,

The Mirage 4000 can be used in multiple roles, Including being a missile bus, Support aircraft and even somewhat of a dogfighter. The best way to use the Mirage 4000 in Air RB is to use your high speed to get into a flanking position possibly bombing one base and then firing missiles at unsuspecting enemies. Afterwards, there are multiple possibilities. Either getting away in order to reposition and gain energy, or going straight into the "furball". Both options are possible due to the Mirage's Superior speed, Thrust, Energy retention and agility. The Mirage 4000 is a jack of all trades, being able to fill any role, but not being the best at any of them. You should always keep a good awareness of your surroundings and keep your energy up. Do not get stuck in extended turn fights.

The Mirage 4000 is as fuel efficient as the Mirage 2000, meaning that 20 minutes is enough if you do not afterburn all the way to the battle. Packing 30 minutes fuel ensures you better endurance, while 40 minutes fuel can extend your endurance further. The Mirage 4000 has multiple options of fuel tanks: either 2 x large drop tanks, with around 20 minutes of fuel; or 2 x smaller fuel tanks, carrying around 4 minutes of fuel can also be installed. These fuel tanks cannot be dropped, they are installed on the innermost armament pylons, but can however hold 2 x Magic II missiles each. In practice, this means that if you wish to take 8 x missiles, you have to take these fuel tanks, which make the plane slightly heavier. If you wish to take 4 x Super 530Ds, You will be limiting yourself to 6 x missiles. The most well rounded loadout for the Mirage 4000 would be the 2 x small fuel tanks, each carrying 2 x Matra Magic II Missiles, 2 x Super 530Ds along with the outer-most pylon Magic IIs, bringing you to a total of 6 x IR missiles and 2 x radar missiles. A payload of 11 x 250 kg bombs can be taken on the pylons under the fuselage, letting you destroy one base.

Ground Realistic Battles

The Mirage 4000 is a very scary plane. It can carry a good amount of ordnance. While the ordnance is not fire-and-forget, it packs a punch. A big downside is that the Mirage 4000 only gets access to an ALTIS II targetting pod, which does not have any thermal capability. In practice, this means that the Mirage 4000 is useless at ground pounding if the weather conditions are cloudy, foggy or in low light conditions. Spotting targets is also harder, however the zoom of the ALTIS II is better than on the DAMOCLES targetting pod of the Mirage 2000-5F. The Most effective loadout for Ground RB is 4 x AS-30L missiles, which are very lethal with a direct hit, and 2 x BGL-1000 laser-guided bombs. The first thing you should do after spawning in is searching for enemy SPAA. If you have not identified SPAA in around 5 seconds after spawning in, you should dive and put distance, objects or terrain between you and the battlefield as soon as possible, in order to avoid any possible missiles coming at you. Do keep in mind that a missile can be guided to you even if no one is hard locking you. SPAAs at this tier have IRST and even TWS, making it especially hard to know a missile is fired at you unless you clearly see the launch. When the threat (SPAA) is eliminated, you can finally start getting close and destroying ground targets. You should constantly keep your eyes on the RWR in case any plane spawns in. Try not to turn a lot. The Mirage 4000 becomes very vulnerable once it lost all of its speed. You should do passes and bombing runs rather than staying right above the battlefield and dropping ordnance.

Overall, the Super Mirage is a truly capable multirole aircraft, that is more than capable at dealing with any situation one might throw at it. This however does not mean that the plane is clearly superior to anything else it might fight, quite the opposite. It just lets the pilot do some things other planes do not. It can be a scary and formidable foe to fight against.

It is a plane with which you can play in your own playstyle, rather than forcing you into a playstyle of its own.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Excellent flight performance in all situations
  • Magic 2 missiles are very effective and it carries up to 8 of them
  • Has access to Super 530D radar missiles
  • Wide variety of air-to-ground weapons, like various (guided) bombs, guided missiles and rockets

Cons:

  • Super 530D missiles lag behind contemporaries like R-27ER and AIM-7M at short range
  • Easy to bleed speed in extended turns, at which point it becomes vulnerable to faster foes
  • Lack of an HMD

History

In 1970, France, which was already a well-recognized aircraft manufacturer, decided to develop 4th gen fighters. The project led to the Mirage 2000, which was an incredible success, and the Mirage 4000. Most majors of the French Air Force wanted a versatile twin-jet. The Super Mirage was at first designed to be a successor to the Mirage IV nuclear bomber, launched on the personal initiative of Marcel Dassault, being the last European combat aircraft financed with its manufacturer's own funds. It was designed to have a similar size to the Sukhoi Su-27 or the McDonnell Douglas F-15.

Dassault-Breguet used knowledge gained from the Mirage F2 to create the Super Mirage. After that, the French majors abandoned the idea of it being a fighter-bomber and designed it to be a fighter, more manoeuvrable than the F-15. The F-15 prototypes had an angle of incidence of 19° while the Mirage 4000 had one of a whopping 26°. The F-15 had a maximum G-forces limit of 7G, but the Mirage had one of 9G+. It is mostly composed of composite materials to make it as light as possible and could hold three times more fuel than its little brother. The Super Mirage's engines were picked from the Mirage 2000 project; it was basically a Mirage 2000, but bigger, hence the name.

The Super Mirage 4000 had its first flight on 9th March 1979 with test pilot Jean-Marie Saget. From its sixth flight, it reached Mach-2, for comparison, the Mirage 2000 can go Mach 2.2. Its weight is 10,200 kg, while the Mirage 4000 weighed 18,800 kg and could go 105 km/h faster (2,340 km/h for the Mirage 2000 and 2,445 km/h for the Super Mirage). It had an amazing climb rate as it could go up to 50,000fts in just 3m50. It had 11 hard points, and was able to carry various armaments including the radar pod "Antilope V", Matra R550 Magic 2, and Matra Super 530D.

The King of Saudi Arabia, "Khaled ben Abdelaziz Al Saoud", the Shah of Iran, "Mohammad Reza Chah Pahlavi", and the Iraqi government were interested in the project. However, after long discussions with Saudi Arabia and Iran, a deal was not able to be concluded. Sources suspect that Iraq wanted it as a "budget" F-15, as French aircraft have usually the best quality/price ratio for Iraq and similar nations. It was a logical choice for Iraq as they already operated the Mirage F1.

The majors of the French Air Force didn't want to industrialize the Super Mirage, the expected 5 Mirage 4000 were canceled because of the loss of funds. Since it wasn't ordered, it couldn't be exported, leading to failure. In December 1977, the Air Force asked the Aeronautical Construction Directorate of the Ministry of Defense to conduct a review of a tactical combat aircraft (ACT in French, and TCA in English), intended to succeed the Jaguars. Dassault-Breguet then began studying the ACX/Rafale.

The Super Mirage 4000 made a whopping 336 test flights, with the last one on the 8th of January 1988. The Super Mirage was later delivered to the https://www.museeairespace.fr/en Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace du Bourget in a "desert" livery. In 2002, the association "IT Mercure" repainted it in its iconic livery, which it features in-game.

Media

Skins
Videos
The Shooting Range #392 - Metal Beasts section at 00:25 discusses the Mirage 4000.
The Shooting Range #390 - Arsenal section at 07:08 discusses the Mirage 4000.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

  • reference to the series of the aircraft;
  • links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links


Dassault Aviation
WW2* 
Fighters  M.B.152C1 · M.B.157
Bombers  M.B.162 · M.B.174A-3 · M.B.175T
Jet Aircraft 
M.D 450  M.D.450B Barougan · M.D.450B Ouragan
Mystère  M.D.452 IIA · M.D.452 IIC · Mystere IVA
Super Mystère  Super Mystere B2
Étendard  Etendard IVM
Super Étendard  Super Etendard
Alpha Jet  Alpha Jet E**
Mirage 
Mirage III  Mirage IIIC · Mirage IIIE · Milan
Mirage V  Mirage 5F
Mirage F1  Mirage F1C · Mirage F1C-200 · Mirage F1CT
Mirage 2000  Mirage 2000-5F · Mirage 2000C-S4 · Mirage 2000C-S5 · Mirage 2000D-R1 · Mirage 2000D-RMV
Mirage 4000  Mirage 4000
Export 
M.D 450  M.D.450B Ouragan
Mystere  Mystere IVA
Super Mystère  Sambad · Sa'ar***
Mirage  Shahak · ▄Mirage 5BA · ␗Mirage 2000-5Ei
  *The company was named "Société des Avions Marcel Bloch" before being renamed in 1947
  **Jointly manufactured with Dornier Flugzeugwerke
  ***Israeli Super Mystère refitted with new avionics and an American engine
See also  SABCA

France jet aircraft
Fighters  M.D.450B Ouragan · M.D.450B Barougan · M.D.452 IIA · M.D.452 IIC · Mystere IVA · Super Mystere B2
  ▄F-86K · ▄F-100D · ▄F-8E(FN)
  Mirage IIIC · Mirage IIIE · Milan · Mirage 5F · Mirage 2000C-S4 · Mirage 2000C-S5 · Mirage 2000-5F · Mirage 4000
  Mirage F1C · Mirage F1C-200 · Mirage F1CT
Strike aircraft  ▄F-84F · F-84F IAF · ▄F-84G-26-RE
  Etendard IVM · Super Etendard · Alpha Jet E
  Jaguar A · Jaguar E · Mirage 2000D-R1 · Mirage 2000D-RMV
Bombers  S.O.4050 Vautour IIA · Vautour IIA IDF/AF · S.O.4050 Vautour IIB · S.O.4050 Vautour IIN · S.O.4050 Vautour IIN (late)
Belgium  ▄Meteor F Mk.8 · ▄Mirage 5BA · ▄F-104G · ▄F-16A · ▄F-16AM
Netherlands  ◘Sea Hawk Mk.50 · ◘Hunter F.6

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