Since Vietnam, it has been rare for US-made fighter jets to be downed in air-to-air engagements with Soviet-made jets – however the French-made Dassault Mirage F1 is known to have claimed at least five US-made fighter jets. No F-15s have been lost in an air-to-air battle, and only one F-16 has been confirmed to have been lost in an air-to-air incident – to a French-made Mirage 2000. During Operation Desert Storm, some of the most capable aircraft Iraq had were its French-made Mirage F1s.
France’s formidable Mirage F1
The Dassault Mirage F1 was one of the more capable fighter jets of its day. It was developed as a successor to the Mirage III family of fighter jets. It first flew in 1966 and entered service with the French Air Force in 1973. The French Air Force used it as the main interceptor before it was eventually replaced by the Mirage 2000 (France retired the last of its Mirage F1s in 2014).
Dassault Mirage F1 First flew: 1966 Number built: 726 Date built: 1966–1992 Succeeded by: Dassault Mirage 2000 Operators: France, Iraqi, Greece, Spain, Iran, Morocco, others Status: In limited service with some countries
Downing four Iranian F-14 Tomcats
The Mirage proved Iraq’s answer to Iran’s advanced F-14 Tomcats (supplied just before the Revolution of 1979). These F-14s gave Iran a qualitative advantage over Iraq’s Soviet-supplied fighter jets (Iran had around 450 fighter jets made up of US-supplied F-14s, F-4s, and F-5s).
Meet The French Mirage F1 That Downed F-14 Tomcats & A 100F Super Sabre
