In 2014, the last Mirage F1 of the French Air Force were retiring after four decades of good and loyal service. Until the end, this single-jet fighter from Dassault Aviation continued to prove itself, notably by carrying out strike and reconnaissance missions in Mali. Too specialized, and no longer able to integrate the most recent weapon systems, the Mirage F1CR (reconnaissance) and F1CT (tactical support) will be replaced on the ground by renovated Mirage 2000s, Rafale much more efficient and even by the new Reaper drones purchased in the United States.
However, the cells of the last French Mirages were still in excellent condition when they left active service. Aware of the potential of these devices, the French authorities have decided to place the Mirage F1 "in cocoons", thus sparing them breakage while waiting for them to find buyer on the second-hand market. But rather than reselling the cells to African or South American air forces, the Ministry of the Armed Forces decided in 2017 to resell around sixty Mirage F1 cells to the private American company ATAC, of the Textron group. And a few days ago, ATAC was selected by the Air Combat Command of the US Air Force to provide combat training capabilities for the benefit of American F-16 and F-35 pilots, via its fleet of refurbished Mirage F1s.
The rest of this article is for subscribers only
The Classic subscriptions provide access to
all articles without advertising, starting at € 1,99.
Newsletter subscription
Register for the Meta-Defense Newsletter to receive the
latest fashion articles daily or weekly