The Dassault Mirage F1 was a single-engine fighter aircraft, designed to function as both an interceptor aircraft and as a capable ground attack platform.
While officially developed for the French Air Force as a capable air defense aircraft, Dassault had placed considerable emphasis on developing the Mirage F1 for ground attack duties as a secondary role during its early design.
Developed by the company to function as a successor to the successful Mirage III and Mirage 5 families, it drew heavily upon its predecessors as well, sharing the same fuselage as the Mirage III, while adopting a considerably different wing configuration.

The Mirage F1 used a shoulder-mounted swept wing, instead of the Delta wing of the Mirage III, which resulted in a more than 50% reduction in required runway lengths and increased internal fuel tankage for 40% greater combat range.
The approach speed prior to landing is 25% less than the preceding Mirage IIIE.
According to Dassault, the negative performance impact associated with the increased thickness of the Mirage F1's wing over the Mirage III's counterpart had been offset by improvements made to the propulsion system.
The wing is fitted with both double-slotted trailing edge flaps and full-span leading edge slats, the latter being automatically operated to reduce the aircraft's turn radius during combat.

A key area of advancement on the Mirage F1 over its predecessors was in its onboard avionics.
The Thomson-CSF Cyrano IV monopulse radar system, developed from the Cyrano II unit installed on the Mirage IIIE, serves as the main sensor; it operates in three different modes: air-target acquisition and tracking, ground mapping, and terrain avoidance.
The later Cyrano IV-1 model also provided for a limited look-down capability.
According to aerospace publication Flight International, the Cyrano IV radar was capable of detecting aerial targets at double the range of earlier models.
The standard production Mirage F1 was furnished with an Instrument Landing System (ILS), radar altimeter, UHF/VHF radio sets, Tactical Air Navigation system (TACAN) and aground data link.
Other avionics include an autopilot and yaw damper.

The Mirage F1 was powered by a single SNECMA Atar 9K-50 turbojet engine, which was capable of providing roughly 7 tonnes-force (69 kN; 15,000 lbf) of thrust, giving the aircraft a maximum speed of 1,453 MPH and an altitude ceiling of 65,615 feet.
Flight International described the Atar engine as being "unexpectedly simple", despite the adoption of an afterburner.
An improved engine, initially known as the Super Atar and later as the Snecma M53, was intended to be eventually adopted on production Mirage F1 aircraft, as well as for successor aircraft.

The initial armament of the Mirage F1 was a pair of internal 30 mm cannons, and a single Matra R530 medium-range air-to-air missile, which was carried under the fuselage.
It could carry a total combined payload of 13,889lb of bombs and missiles, all of which would be carried externally.
After 1979, the medium-range R530 was replaced by the improved Matra Super 530 F missile as the latter came into service in quantity with the French Air Force.
In 1977, the R550 Magic was released; the Mirage F1 has these missiles mounted on rails on the wingtips.
Around the same time, the American AIM-9 Sidewinder was also introduced to the Mirage F1's armament; both the Spanish and Hellenic Air Forces had requested the integration of the Sidewinder upon their own Mirage F1CE and Mirage F1CG fighters.
The Dassault Mirage F1 was a single-engine fighter aircraft, designed to function as both an interceptor aircraft and as a capable ground attack platform. While officially developed for the French Air Force as a capable air defense aircraft, Dassault had placed considerable emphasis on developing the Mirage F1 for ground attack duties as a secondary role during its early design. Developed by the company to function as a successor to the successful Mirage III and Mirage 5 families, it drew heavily upon its predecessors as well, sharing the same fuselage as the Mirage III, while adopting a considerably different wing configuration.
The Mirage F1 used a shoulder-mounted swept wing, instead of the Delta wing of the Mirage III, which resulted in a more than 50% reduction in required runway lengths and increased internal fuel tankage for 40% greater combat range. The approach speed prior to landing is 25% less than the preceding Mirage IIIE. According to Dassault, the negative performance impact associated with the increased thickness of the Mirage F1's wing over the Mirage III's counterpart had been offset by improvements made to the propulsion system. The wing is fitted with both double-slotted trailing edge flaps and full-span leading edge slats, the latter being automatically operated to reduce the aircraft's turn radius during combat.
A key area of advancement on the Mirage F1 over its predecessors was in its onboard avionics. The Thomson-CSF Cyrano IV monopulse radar system, developed from the Cyrano II unit installed on the Mirage IIIE, serves as the main sensor; it operates in three different modes: air-target acquisition and tracking, ground mapping, and terrain avoidance. The later Cyrano IV-1 model also provided for a limited look-down capability. According to aerospace publication Flight International, the Cyrano IV radar was capable of detecting aerial targets at double the range of earlier models. The standard production Mirage F1 was furnished with an Instrument Landing System (ILS), radar altimeter, UHF/VHF radio sets, Tactical Air Navigation system (TACAN) and aground data link. Other avionics include an autopilot and yaw damper.
The Mirage F1 was powered by a single SNECMA Atar 9K-50 turbojet engine, which was capable of providing roughly 7 tonnes-force (69 kN; 15,000 lbf) of thrust, giving the aircraft a maximum speed of 1,453 MPH and an altitude ceiling of 65,615 feet. Flight International described the Atar engine as being "unexpectedly simple", despite the adoption of an afterburner. An improved engine, initially known as the Super Atar and later as the Snecma M53, was intended to be eventually adopted on production Mirage F1 aircraft, as well as for successor aircraft.
The initial armament of the Mirage F1 was a pair of internal 30 mm cannons, and a single Matra R530 medium-range air-to-air missile, which was carried under the fuselage. It could carry a total combined payload of 13,889lb of bombs and missiles, all of which would be carried externally. After 1979, the medium-range R530 was replaced by the improved Matra Super 530 F missile as the latter came into service in quantity with the French Air Force. In 1977, the R550 Magic was released; the Mirage F1 has these missiles mounted on rails on the wingtips. Around the same time, the American AIM-9 Sidewinder was also introduced to the Mirage F1's armament; both the Spanish and Hellenic Air Forces had requested the integration of the Sidewinder upon their own Mirage F1CE and Mirage F1CG fighters.
Dassault Mirage F1