Mirage IV

During the 1950s, France decided to field a long-range manned bomber as part of its nuclear deterrent force. Dassault was chosen to develop this two-seat bomber based on the company's experience with supersonic jets. The final design was based on a twin-engine night-fighter variant of Dassault's Mirage III. The resulting Mirage IV was designed to carry one nuclear bomb in a semi-recessed fuselage bay at high speeds to targets within the Soviet Union. Production of the Mirage IVA bomber was completed in 1968 after 62 had been built.
During the 1970s, the Mirage IV fleet was modified with wing hardpoints so that heavy loads of conventional bombs could also be carried. Modifications were also made to 12 Mirage IVA aircraft that were converted into high-altitude reconnaissance platforms known as the Mirage IVR. This conversion saw the nuclear armament removed in favor of a reconfigurable sensor pod carrying cameras or a SLAR package.

A major upgrade came during the 1980s when 18 Mirage IVA bombers, plus one additional new production airframe, were updated to the Mirage IVP (penetration) standard. The Mirage IVP was armed with one ASMP long-range nuclear cruise missile in place of the bomb carried on earlier models. Additional upgrades made to the Mirage IVP aircraft included a new radar with ground-mapping capabilty and a radar warning receiver.

By 1992, only 13 examples of the Mirage IVP fleet remained. The last of these were removed from service in 1996 when replaced by the Mirage 2000N. Only a handful of the Mirage IVR reconnaissance aircraft are still in use.