The Airplane that Caught a U-2 at 65,000 Feet

[@dorianeroars666]

My father was in the French Air Force during the time the Mirage 3 was in service, and he had a friend who was a pilot in a famous squadron. I had the luck, while he was stationned on my father's base, to go with him and jump into the cockpit, and when you're 6 years old, trust me, it's a memory i will keep forever. One of my favourite french planes, with the Mirage F1 and the Jaguar.

[@ladronsiman1471]

I saw the Mirage 1 in EL Salvador ..I was 10 years old ..They were showing that plane to different countries in Latin America ..I still remember that lane taking off with its delta wing ,, We well all used to see normal wings .Not a triangle taking off ,with such a great sound

[@tdyblgm24]

How fun! I’m jealous!

[@kimmoj2570]

There is Boeing KC-135 tanker doing 25 feet flyby of tower at 1m 7 sec on that video. 💪😁😀😳😳 French are French and latin testosterone shows. Totally crazy tanker pilot. 😂

[@alfoutdoors9660]

The Jaguar was only half French...It was also half British.

[@dorianeroars666]

@@alfoutdoors9660 i meant in the French Air Force. I obviously know it's from SEPECAT, which is a french-british company

[@RobertMarshall-d2n]

the most impressive thing about any aircraft designed in that era is the thousands of calculations were done with a pencil and slide rule.

[@kkteutsch6416]

And even this way they flown a lot more than 737 Max of today....

[@byronbailey9229]

450 kts into M1.3 was our supersonic intercept limb schedule. Absolute speed limit ‘ clean ‘ was M2.0 due 125 C ram air temperature rise, and 750 kts low level although I managed 800 kts in the two seater which due longer nose ( no radar ) had better supersonic drag. Even our previous RAAF fighter the Avon Sabre had ( book figures ) brakes release to 35,000 feet of 6 minutes. I flew 3 Sqn, 76 Sqn, and 77 Sqn. Loved it - super strong delta wing never a concern no matter how much ‘ g ‘ was pulled.

[@CraigLandsberg-lk1ep]

Are you from Aus?

[@drive-channel1834]

Most likely

[@timtitus2532]

While on board the USS Acadia during a transit of the Indian Ocean our ship was Buzzed by a pair of Mirage fitter jets, I remember I was at the bow grabbing some air when in the distance I saw a couple of dots quickly grow with plumes of smoke behind them. My first thought is that someone had fired missiles at us. Then the dots quickly grew into a pair of Mirage fitters that flew down our port side at deck level. They then performed a rising turn aft of the ship and Buzzed our starboard side and flew out of sight not to be seen again. Kinda thrilling.

[@grantsmythe8625]

*fitter* jets"? That's an interesting error. Glad you and the other sailors onboard came out OK. Thanks for your military service.

[@timtitus2532]

@@grantsmythe8625 Ohhh, I see my error fighter jets. Fitter jets are something an HT might be interested in...😉

[@onionhead5780]

Cool memory. Thanks for sharing. 👍

[@timgosling6189]

@@timtitus2532 You sure they weren't Fitters? The SU-17 looks very similar head on!

[@timtitus2532]

@timgosling6189 Saw them clearly from the side as they passed our ship, so close. In fact, I could see the pilot in the lead jet looking over at our ship.

[@Strato13]

It is always amazing to see how designs were done back in the day before any use of computer-aided technology was even available. In some shots, you see them using physical hand-measuring-tools, writing on paper with pen, getting inside and dirty in the air frames..simply amazing.. These engineers were definitely very much ahead of their time, and very intelligent.

[@williamzk9083]

The CATIA system that is standard in aviation was actually developed by Dassault-Breguet for the Mirage 2000 though wasn't used on Mirage III.

[@mikepalmer1971]

Call me crazy but I think people still use hand measuring tools. Lmao.

[@Strato13]

@mikepalmer2219 Yeah, I agree, lol...

[@pierauspitz]

Yeah, it's amazing, but, as beautiful as they were, let's not forget that the planes of this generation killed their pilots with frightening regularity. That's what happens when the boundary of the possible is pushed to the limit of purely human abilities,. Once computer entered the picture for design, manufacture and flight controls, losses decreased quite dramatically... Beautiful, fantastical machines they were, but let's not forget they were death traps.

[@patolt1628]

Sure they were intelligent. As an old man now your comment makes me laugh because you don't seem to even imagine how it could possible to design anything without a computer. You are probably quite young ... Throughout my education I used only papers, pencils and slide rules: it worked perfectly. Btw they went to the Moon using these tools which were accurate enough and never failed ...

[@vickiehottes4933]

Maybe the French can help Boeing with their door plug problems?😊

[@dorianeroars666]

No thanks, we have our own Airbus problems ;)

[@michaelalexander2306]

The reason Dassaut said that "...if it wasn't for the clumsy way you do things in Britain, you could have made the Mirage.." was that, as alluded to, the Mirage being heavy based on the Fairy Delta II. British politicians, yet again, not seeing the potential of a groundbreaking aircraft.

[@lancekilkenny721]

I lol at that quote!

[@we-are-electric1445]

Mind you, the French were using a British jet engine to power the Mirage so the French might have struggles to do what they did on their own ! The sensible thing would have been for France and Britain to have collaborated. Both countries working together have made some significant engineering achievements. Remember the principle of the Harrier was invented by a French engineer. He couldn't get it to work (maybe the French government didn't back him 😁 ) but he established the principle.

[@ZhoRZh37]

Not that they're not seeing the potential, but they see US's foreign politics $$ much better. Human eyesight is tuned to colour green.

[@mikep4566]

Fairey, post war, struggled to get accomodation in the UK to develop their Fairy Delta. Dassualt offered them space in France, which they readily accepted. And then few years later the Mirage emerged. An amazing coincidence.@@ZhoRZh37

[@MothaLuva]

@@we-are-electric1445Where is the SNECMA Atar 9 series a British Engine..?

[@larssahlin3336]

Pls save us from the annoying background music 😢

[@brianmerz6070]

Thank you so much for this video. I had two Revell models of the Mirage III. One was of the air superiority fighter, and one was of the ground attack version. I loved them because of their beauty, but you filled in the story that I didn't know!

[@kevinyaucheekin1319]

Ground attack variant is the Mirage 5/V. 😊

[@chriswandatownley1]

I heard a story of the BAC Lightning doing a pop-up over England and getting a U2 to acknowledge Air traffic Control who were trying to contact them, with a statement to the U2 to look in their Rear View Mirror. The U2 quickly acknowledged the ATC !

[@dorianeroars666]

the Lightning, WHAT AN AMAZING PLANE OMG !! I would love to see one !

[@chrisherd991]

That particular lightning ran out of puff at 90k feet.

[@ContentGramophone-tp9gw]

Id run out of puff at the edge of space at mach 2+​@@chrisherd991

[@AnthonyTolhurst-dw1nc]

Australia had 116 Mirage III0’s; the mighty Miracle we called it. What a beast for its time. Only started retiring in 1985 for F/A18’s.

[@CraigLandsberg-lk1ep]

What a loss going back to F-18's😢slow....

[@mosthatedandroidtunernolim9800]

​@@CraigLandsberg-lk1epf18s are better

[@johnkochen7264]

There was no jump in Soviet jet propulsion in Korea. The Mig-15 was powered by a copy of the Rolls Royce Nene. The Soviets never worried about details like licenses.

[@patopato9668]

Because you loose them on a billar game XD. Look for that story, is full of fun, soviets acting like james bond...

[@williamzk9083]

Actually didnt the Atlee government give them a license?

[@patopato9668]

@@williamzk9083 I read a story that the ruskys bet the engine blueprints, and use soft shoes to get the chips from the floor and from them get the alloy to each part of the engine.

[@christianlords1340]

shhhhh, that is not to be mentioned. it is an unmentionable.

[@jasonhunt007]

Dassault also pioneered the development of using CAD for aircraft design. CATIA V5 is still used today.

[@mitch075fr]

It's at V6 if I'm not mistaken.

[@utubeballbag]

A British airways Concorde once intercepted a U2. The U2 pilot in pure disbelief, had to get out of concordes way. True story

[@JC-dt7jv]

They both flew in uncontrolled airspace.

[@il_vendicatore]

source ? our ai overlord says nope

[@johnrogers1661]

Betcha wouldn't happen with the SR-71 lol, cool story though.

[@utubeballbag]

@@johnrogers1661 i saw it on a 1 hour long 50th anniversary documentary about the birth of concorde about 5 years ago. It was on BBC i believe. Im searching for it here. Happened over cuba if im not mistaken

[@brianswan921]

The Concorde was inverted too

[@jamesbothoms6009]

I thought it was going to be a retelling of the story I was always told In my early RAf career, of a Canberra taking a picture of a U2 taking a picture of a U.K. airbase

[@FasterLower]

Interestingly I found a photo of an airborne Canberra taken by a U2 in the Vietnam gallery of Valiant Air Command aircraft museum in Titusville Florida

[@xx6489]

​@@FasterLoweryeah the US made the Canberra under licence...it was that good

[@jimbovoncarguy3877]

​@@xx6489the b57. But. The yanks had the sense to give it a proper cockpit compared to the bat cave the brits and Aussies used...

[@rolandoscar1696]

As a schoolboy in Pretoria, not a day went past when a Mirage didn't rip up the sky, like it was made of heavy fabric. Still my best jet fighter. Thanks for this video.

[@PittsPics]

Must have been awesome seeing them in person. Were you always in awe of them or just got use to it?

[@xx6489]

South Africa under embargo re engineered the mirage into a far superior version of the original

[@rolandoscar1696]

@@xx6489 Yes, it was called the Cheetah, built because they were running short on spare parts for the Mirages. I think this channel, or one of the "Dark Docs" did a dedicated program on it a few weeks back.

[@rolandoscar1696]

@@PittsPics The Mirage lll with it's SAAF camouflage and blue castle logo with the Springbok was just plain awesome. The FZ version, with the smaller wing area didn't do it for me.

[@richardpoynton4026]

Really thought he was going to talk about the Lightning! lol

[@paulkelk5142]

The Lightning definitely do the a couple of times 🙂

[@everTriumph]

I think the Lightning intercepted the U2 at more than 65,000ft and continued its climb to a rumoured 85,000ft.

[@frostyfrost4094]

Ah l wondered what that prop engine was from

[@-CLUMSYDIYer-]

So did I. The lightning intercepted all sort of aircraft and was way better looking.

[@richardstaz721]

Didn’t the Lightning intercept the U2 from above!

[@christiancruz4533]

One of your best, if not your best vid. Love how you account not only the mirage variants, but also the nesher and kfir derivatives.❤

[@chalkywhite5043]

I remember as a young Air Cadet in a 2 week visit to Williamstown RAAF air base Australia that when asking questions to an experienced Mirage III jet fitter you had to literally shout due to his Industrial deafness from exposure to the Atar engine. Such a sleek powerful aircraft.

[@TerraRubicon]

I didn't know the U.S. spied on France with the U2. It goes to show the U.S. sticks its nose in everyone's business.

[@Franfran722]

US spies on everyone, especially it’s allies We have regularly scandals because se re-re-re-discover that our president phone is spied… In France we have a strong hate agains the US gouvernement because of all the back-stabs, spying, destabilization, and industrial predation that the US has done since 2003. Not wanting to follow Bush and it idiotic-war has costed much, but at least we were so damn proud. Now we know that we were right back in the days…

[@FrancisFjordCupola]

Huh? Why would we over here in the EU not expect the Americans to perform espionage. Of course they want to keep tabs on everything.

[@nicolashommerin7729]

French were not just observer before mirage 3. Dassault built the ouragan in late 40 and mystère in early 50 ( and before that, the espadon).

[@trespire]

We had a Sud-Aviation Vautoure on a pedistal on the grass in front of one of our (ground attack) squadron HQ. The Vautoure is a big plane, and served the IAF well as a medium bomber.

[@delta182]

It's such an amazing channel.. I love how you guys continue to educate the ones that love all parts of Aviation and combat senireos.. Just keep up the great work. Would anyone know of a channel where they show actual combat footage, bombing runs, gun sights engagements and so on.. Thanks

[@bobhodgson3113]

The English Electric Lightning had the fastest rate of climb on record and altitude record and to the shock of America, easily intercepted the U2 spy plane

[@dukeford8893]

The Lightning never set any goddamned records. Not one.

[@mitch075fr]

The English Electric Lightning was a rocket strapped to the pilot's butt. That gave it astounding acceleration and climb rate, but it was pure thrust. For actual dogfighting, the Mirage III was better. On that particular case, the EEL had to glide back to base because it was running on fumes; while the MIII was almost dry after its climb, it could still manoeuvre some and catch a few pictures before turning back. As the clip says, MIII's delta wing gave it large amounts of fuel, something the EEL didn't have room for - on top of that, a large delta is probably easier to glide with than stubby little wings, as both planes were quite dry after their respective endeavours.

[@truthhurts9241]

Mirage, "I intercepted a U2." Lightning, "Yawn, did I show you my Tee Shirt."

[@Packless1]

...and swedish Saab-37 'Viggen' once intercepted a SR-71 'Blackbird'...! ...b.t.w. i.m.o 2 of the coolest planes...!

[@truthhurts9241]

@@Packless1 Saabs, no longer the bogeyman, scary fighter planes of a few years back. All NATO friends now don't you know. As I gather, responsible for not just intercepting but saving the SR's shapely and rather expensive posterior. Liking your taste in planes, I fully concur. Regards.....

[@camaradeKC]

@@Packless1 fun fact mirage 3 also intercepted the sr71

[@sferrin2]

F-104, "Yawn, did I show you mine?"

[@Rich77UK]

Bless the French for standing up to the airspace intrusion by the USA. Bravo!

[@GaryChurch-hi8kb]

The canards they eventually put on the lll made it the most aesthetically beautiful jet fighter ever made.

[@mitch075fr]

"the most aesthetically beautiful jet fighter ever made" you forgot to add "yet" - because then Dassault made the Rafale :p

[@eanjamesmogg9488]

It seems a Lightning flew to a higher Altitude to meet the U2 flying north past Scotland and overflew by Twenty thousand feet higher than the U2 at eighty eight thousand feet with the U2 at sixty six thousand feet, and it was the only NATO aircraft to intercept Concorde in Supersonic flight..

[@olivierpuyou3621]

The English Electric ligthning, the most awful airplane that has ever been built. I wonder how, with its ridiculous autonomy, it could have "intercepted" a Concorde which was only flying 200 km/h slower. With an autonomy of 1300 km or a range of 650 km in economical flight it would have been dry in less than 10 minutes of flight. Another piece of misplaced British pride.

[@phil_nicholls]

Indeed. The only photograph of a Concorde in supersonic flight was taken from that aircraft. Despite the detractor in this section, the EE Lightning was the only aircraft capable of doing what it did. Yes, it had shortcomings, as all aircraft optimised for one purpose do, but what it did, it did remarkably well.

[@sichere]

@@olivierpuyou3621 EEL could empty it's fuel tanks in 10 mins but could fly for some 90 mins It was faster and had a better climb rate than operation F15's. It intercepted the Sr71 in mid Atlantic and the F53 version was mach 3 capable. Fuel was never an issue with tanker support from high flying Victors.

[@jeromeportier4914]

@@phil_nicholls No, that's a legend. There are other pictures of the Concorde in supersonic flight taken from other aircrafts. The French Air Force have routinely trained to intercept it. Not always successfully, but almost all the jets of the Mirage family have done it: Mirage III, F1, 2000...

[@jeromeportier4914]

@@sichere Feel free to share sources, because that all sounds iffy. The Lightning is a mach 2.2 plane. As far as I know it's never flown at mach 2.5, let alone mach 3. Flying above mach 2.5 is a completely different kettle of fish in terms of materials needed, etc. I'm also pretty sure all its climbing records have been beaten by the F-15 (and then in turn by the Su-27).

[@KangoV]

Flight lieutenant Mike Hale in his electric lightning intercepted a U2 at 80,000 ft. He got to 88,000 ft in his F.3 XR749 and caught the U2 on the way down. The Americans were stunned.

[@chucku00]

"Winning Le Mans on Sunday, selling M530 cars and R530 missiles on monday" - Matra

[@rodolfohernandez3303]

Of all the Mirage models, my all time favorite the Mirage 2000. Is it me the background music in recent videos doesn't fit to the video?

[@vinodkaka5225]

You are absolutely right bro. Mirage 2000 is way ahead among all others mirage variants..

[@hansjorgmoser1371]

What an icredible aircraft. I had the priviledge to see the last Swiss Mirage III reconnaissance aircraft in service before they were decommissioned. The aircraft with its 30mm cannons looked liked new.

[@onemantwohands5224]

My grandad and I watched the last one fly out of Amberley! I'll never forget the sexy lines they had 🤟🤙

[@TheSilmarillian]

The Mirage and the F111 beasts of their time indeed. As pilots of the time said they where like a jet pack strapped to your back.

[@valkoharja]

The mirages are very cool jets.

[@DJHalfbarr]

The English Electric Lightening did this in war games before hand, even the Canberra got close - The RAF frequently taught the USAF (see the Vulcan penetrating US airspace twice in nuclear wargames) its not always about massive budgets.

[@bigtony4930]

A chess master allowing a kid to win the match isn't "being taught" anything.

[@DJHalfbarr]

@bigtony4930 heh, your cope makes the facts even sweeter...

[@bigtony4930]

@DJHalfbarr Ahhhhh, I love the folks who confuse "cope" with inconvenient truth 😂

[@modelrailwaynoob]

@@bigtony4930 I sense jealousy form the tanks (again)

[@bigtony4930]

Form the tanks? Bro?@@modelrailwaynoob

[@altergreenhorn]

Fun fact: Yugoslav air force signed a deal for +100 Mirage 3 planes to replace old F86 Sabre, then Algeria fight for freedom from France started, Yugoslavia helped Algeria to become independent. France was so mad because of that that they cancel the deal, so Yugoslavia at the end bought 200 Mig 21 instead.

[@amirobolant8356]

Most beautiful plane! Thanks for this excellent video. How do I turn off the background "music"?

[@gerryfinch2014]

I was an electronic warfare officer in the USAF. We had to study potential enemy aircraft threats. Many countries used the Mirage fighters. They are very capable.

[@davidpeters6536]

The EE (BAC) Lightning also greeted a surprised U2 pilot and could climb almost vertically over Mach 1 winning many "firsts" and "fastest" plaudits. It was also the only plane to catch Concorde from a rearward aspect (Concorde supercruised a Mach 2.2). The Fairy Delta became a test plane for Concorde design.

[@staninjapan07]

nicely made you had my attention from start to finish a rare thing

[@sunnyali8061]

Pakistan Air force has acquired other countries' retired mirage fleets and overhauled them in Kamra for next 10 to 15 years as they are still better than most modern-day bombers and fighter planes... great history with them and great planes like Mirage 3 especially with min speed of M 2.0 to max M2.2.....

[@whizzo94]

If I'm not mistaken, an English Electric Lightning also intercepted a U2 during an exercise.

[@mathieuvigier1216]

Blablabla the lightning... This time it was not an exercise ! The story is also more than just one event but the battle record of the plane and the Ace of aces Israeli pilot flies on a Mirage III ! Stop being jealous for once it's about a french plane if you don't know nothing about just say thx and move on 😉

[@LittleManFlying]

A line of radial engines? I'm reminded of the scene from Buckaroo Banzai... New Jersey: Why is there a watermelon there? Reno: I'll tell you later. But we're never told and have been left scratching our heads for the past 40 years

[@josephdanderson5492]

I'm just shocked that the comments aren't full of people whining about the music in the background.

[@TK421-53]

The music is ok, but the IDF represents a racist ideology that is responsible for 8 decades of war crimes and crimes against humanity. No more hero worshipping these criminals.

[@radjalomas8854]

A really beautiful plane, a testament to the quality of French engineering

[@billballbuster7186]

These French aircraft never saw service until the Mirage IIIC of the 1960s. However several jet fighters were capable of intercepting the U-2 in a well timed zoom-climb. The RAF Lightning interceptor was used unmodified to catch the U-2 regularly. This was employed to train the U-2 crews operating from the UK.

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video dark skies, amazing aircraft and story👍

[@evilpandakillabzonattkoccu4879]

Dont worry about the music, it works juat fine (imho) and you earned my sub. 👍🤘

[@genuinsanity]

I once saw a U-2 in the 80's on final approach right over my house by Mathers AFB...it was going real slow most jets would come REAL close to stalling at that speed... it's very long wings were constantly " teeter -tottering " and pilot must have struggled to keep it level as possible .

[@moodberry]

I learned something today about this jet I had not known. If somehow the US could design a jet like this with the delta wing, but still possessing stealth capabilities, plus an even more powerful engine, it could be a great design to challenge just about anyone!

[@Rose_Butterfly98]

I believe the downsides of a delta wing were some of the reasons the US didn't want one. Delta wings do create a lot of drag while turning after all and that can lower sustained turn rate too much. Although it is the reason why the Rafale and the Gripen can temporarily keep up with an f22. They made delta fighters before anyway. Like the f106 delta dart

[@andrews.9286]

The US had two. The delta dart and the delta dagger.

[@hangar1873]

@@Rose_Butterfly98 F106 flew several month after Mirage III, in 1956. And before, Dassault tested Myster Delta (1955)

[@timphillips9954]

The RAF Lightning would run rings around this thing it not only caught the U2, but also outpaced Concord!

[@Pouncer9000]

For exactly how many minutes? I mean the Lightning was a performer, but it had no legs to speak of.

[@2paulcoyle]

So long as it was 100klm from base.

[@timphillips9954]

@@Pouncer9000 It was designed to defend the UK airpace from Soviet long range bombers. It's rate of climb, max cieling and top end speed couldn't be matched by many of todays aircraft. It served well into the eighties and used drop tanks in later versions to increase indurance

[@Pouncer9000]

@@timphillips9954 A later Me 163 then

[@jeromeportier4914]

Not sure that thing could actually turn! Straight line, sure. But run rings? Right! There's a reason the Mirage III outsold it 5 to 1...

[@colinvannurden2467]

Good looking plane.

[@redbaron9029]

IAF Mirage 3 flown by Lutz was downed by a Syrian MiG flown by PAF's pilot during the Arab Israeli war.

[@johnnash5118]

The current single engined record holder for horizontal flight speed was set on Dec. 1st, 1959 by a Convair Aviation F106 Delta Dart, it attained the speed of @1,526 mph in a straight and level course @40,000’. The USSR claimed to have surpassed that speed in 1961, but apparently didn’t provide substantiating documentation.

[@phil2082]

That's about Mach 2. Really? Two engines needed for more speed? This must not factor in ramjet/scramjet engines.

[@haggisek]

I thought they were harrier fodder in the Falkland’s?

[@Solveig.Tissot]

Br'i'ish ships were fodders to the mighty Exocet ! 😏

[@ommsterlitz1805]

Argentina didn't had harrier they had Mirages, that's how they sunk the british ships

[@Fiasco3]

They were, the Harriers got supplied with the latest and greatest all-aspect sidewinders out of NATO's inventory whilst the Mirage had the old 30 degree rear lock IR type. The Mirages were also on bare minutes of fuel left to use over the combat zone. Then you add the Harriers VTOL ability to the equation.

[@petepeters5630]

During the Cuban Missile Crisis I intercepted a U2 (not on fight plan) at 67,000 while flying a F8U2N. It was a scramble from alert status in normal flight gear (no Pressure Suit). Great aircraft that the French bought and flew off their carriers for many years.

[@charlesfrancis6894]

The lighting caught one much higher.

[@brianperry]

This site is very pro USA

[@Pouncer9000]

@@brianperry When something nice is said about France every patriotic Brit rallies and points out that one time they did better.

[@garychiuminatto917]

As a controller that worked numerous SR71s I venture to say the 71s they “caught” were not trying to loose them. To put another way they could have left them as if they weren’t even moving. The SR71’s actual top speed is higher than released, trust me.

[@patopato9668]

Nop, it got a problem and have to return to UK from Libia, thats when it get "caught", when was traspassing french airspace without autorization. As US citizen you should understand what traspassin means XD, and the actual top speed of the Sr-71 is 0...sad but true.

[@ianransome855]

A RAF lightning went past a U2 and levelled off at 80,000 feet, prior to intercepting the U2 at 65,000 feet, in a friendly intercept exercise….

[@SoggySoxSaga]

I thought that was a Spitfire!

[@MC-nb6jx]

Some French chap said the British “could” have made this.. A massive Mach 1.3 climbing at 1800mt in 6 minutes🤔🤔 EEL hold my beer🍻😉

[@olivierpuyou3621]

Do you know the difference between a war plane made for war and a tourist plane, even a fast one? How many victories in ligthning? Easy 0 The Mirage III? more than a hundred. Figures that are worth more than an hour of discussion. Hold mon vin.

[@MC-nb6jx]

@@olivierpuyou3621 … Yet the EEL still did exactly what it was made to do😉😉

[@jimspc07]

I thought a privately owned 2 seater Lightning in South Africa did 9KM up in 106 seconds at an airshow and no rocket.

[@originalkk882]

@@olivierpuyou3621 Typical French arrogance. The Lightning was built to rapidly gain altitude and intercept Soviet bombers attacking Britain. Whilst the French sheltered under US and British protection and built aircraft they could sell to foreign governments (with suitable "incentives").

[@jeromeportier4914]

@@originalkk882 Back then we had the Mirage III for interception and the IV for nuclear deterrence. I can't really see why we'd have needed British help. I also vaguely remember us leaving the NATO integrated command in 66 and asking our U.S. friends to close their military bases and pack up. Last I checked you still have U.S. bases in the U.K., use U.S. made ICBMs, and call the U.S. for help when you can't finish your Astute-class subs. So who's sheltered?

[@neilmchardy9061]

My friend was stationed in Guttersloh in Germany in the early seventies told me that an English electric lightening targeted a U2 spy plane during joint manoeuvres with USA from about 2000 feet above it reaching about 67,000 feet and holding station. Took some photos then broke off. The Americans couldn’t get over the embarrassment

[@joshuaharmon7411]

I love the cheesey 90eys guitar riffs. Good show! Peace

[@alfretwell428]

I’m gonna call BS on this! Just reading a book by an RAF tanker pilot. In 1972 he was exercising with the French airforce, they were practicing intercepts. The Victor (designed to operate at extreme altitudes) was over 50,000 feet not one of the clean Mirage III’s could get up to their height.

[@proteusnz99]

Yes, various jets could reach 65k but they’d be doing it ballistically, unmaneuverable and probable flamed out. The Mirage III, English Electric Lightning, F-8, F-104, F-4, MiG-25 were all capable of reaching 65k or even higher in full afterburner, but at some risk. See for example Paul Gilchrist’s excellent book on the F-8, which has a chapter by a pilot who did a misjudged zoom climb. Sure, it got very very high, but flamed out, losing cabin pressurisation and following a ballistic trajectory with no control surface effectiveness until it fell back. However, the U-2 could go up at least another 10k under control (if flown very precisely, with only a few knots of difference between low and high speed stalls) and power (down to about 600lbs thrust at altitude), thanks to some very good engineering and some exotic fuel mixes. Very few aircraft functional up there, Lockheed’s Blackbirds, the Mya M-17 balloon interceptor.

[@colcol303]

The lightning achieved 50 000ft/min only the F15 comparable but years later. It would trash the Mirage as 0nly mach 1.5....

[@adrien5834]

Lousy range, however. Can't have everything.

[@colcol303]

@adrien5834 we had 3 mins early warning, hence the when we got the F4s we fitted RR spey engines in them to improve climb to height, acceleration and economy, lost abit of top end tho. Americans had 11 mins so didn't matter

[@patrickanderson4602]

Why was de Gaulle being a dick to the US military just 10 years after the US and the world saved his country?

[@miojccdm]

Perhaps because the Americans recognized the Vichy regime until the end of 1942, then supported the Vichy leader Darlan, and didn't recognize the French government formed by the Resistance until 1945?

[@solentlifeuk]

How can you have an All Moving Tailplane on a Delta only aircraft ?? U2 was intercepted without need for rocket boosters by EE Lightnings .... The Mirage 3 was a formidable aircraft - but this video gives it levels that exceed its reality.

[@keithroy9217]

However, let’s not forget that the Dassault-equipped Argentine Air Force lost out to the Harrier, despite their 10-1 superiority. And I do believe the EE lightning intercepted the U-2 well above 65,000 feet. Now, if we’d only had a government to match the visionaries of our industries! Ah, well! We could always collaborate again to produce winners, like the Jaguar, Concorde, Airbus …

[@dorianeroars666]

thus it's not by any flaws of the Mirage III but the lack of training and how they used them. RAF pilot were FAR more skilled than Argentinan ones, who came on my father's base to train and to recall his own words "they were more skilled to enjoy the inviting spirit ot the south-west of France than to be the best pilots ever". And don' t forget either that Argentinan Dassault Super Etendard equiped with Exocet anti ship sunk 3 Brits ship during the Falkland War.

[@keithroy9217]

@@dorianeroars666 nobody with any sense is underrating France or the French! But if I had to pick a great example of the Mirage in use I’d be looking at what the Israeli’s did to the combined Arab air forces. And I did say that some of our greatest successes have been collaborative ventures. I just wish people would get over the politics and do more of that.

[@marcsole4261]

unfortunately Mitterrand give 2 Mirage 3C to train the RAF pilots against it and did not deliver all the EXOCET purchased, you should loose more boats . And they know that at hight speed and altitude the Mirage 3 is better (delta wing) but at low speed and altitude the Harrier is better. It is for that the English pilots stayed at low altitude waiting the Mirage 3 and all victories were on this range. You may see it on one video that you can find on KZbin.

[@gandigooglegandigoogle7202]

I now understand why and how the French can build such incredible planes like the Rafale....it is in fact the sum of knowledge accumulated over decades.

[@arun3151997]

Just a small correction, the mirage was used by India not against India. Love the video tho

[@jeromeportier4914]

The Mirage III was. By the PAF, at least in 71. They still use them! You're thinking of the Mirage 2000.

[@arun3151997]

@@jeromeportier4914 oh shit nvm then I stand corrected

[@tycaldwell9804]

next video make the music louder i could barely hear what u was saying

[@Bustedcamery]

Completely ruined the video, I think the only dark skies video I’ve never finished because of it. Wtf

[@hsjawanda]

In the "2019 Jammu & Kashmir airstrikes" the only message the Mirages conveyed was that they can drop bombs on empty fields in the middle of nowhere and then run away.

[@fraserconnell21]

The "clumsy" Harrier jump jet sure gave the mirage 3 a bloody nose 💥💥😬🐌

[@durandil]

Mirage : AIM-9B and just enough fuel to stay only a few minutes Harrier : AIM-9L and plenty of fuel Now, give AIM-9L to the Mirage and let them take off from Port Stanley...

[@glentyan2505]

I had to laugh on the Falklands War comments, it was well clear these Mirage's weren't just downed by the harriers they lost all encounters to the Harriers.

[@leonidasthermopylae3378]

There were no mirage in the Falkland wars. The Argentinians had only super étendard and Exocet missile.

[@glentyan2505]

Thank you yes, I remembered after I had posted, I doubt it would have made any difference though.

[@marcsole4261]

@@leonidasthermopylae3378 ils avaient des Mirages 3C

[@leonidasthermopylae3378]

@@marcsole4261 ces mirages 3 n’ont jamais été utilisés pendant la guerre des malouines.

[@glentyan2505]

Thank you, this error has already been dealt with but thank you for replying.@@leonidasthermopylae3378

[@vincedibona4687]

The BG music is annoying AF.

[@alexander1485]

he musta gotten a new editor.... we all know he doesn't put together his own videos, he just narrates (he keeps saying "we")

[@HALDikopter]

The thumbnail showed a mirage from the swiss air force. that got me a bit confused.

[@deadchewie]

So they caught what was basically a powered glider that was in the air flying missions since 1955.......wow.

[@hottubking1229]

Title story starts at 11:33 .

[@paul-assiddiq-001]

Great work 👍✨

[@olivertaylor8788]

Saw severial at 88000 feet mach 3 ,from the 71.they were fast all right,but couldnt stay with us ,above 80 they were unstable at 3.

[@sferrin2]

F-104s have done it too. Wouldn't surprise me if F-106s also.

[@charlesdudek7713]

Now catching an SR-71, that would be a real trick.

[@PissBlitz]

JA37 Viggen actually managed to get radarlock on a Blackbird

[@charlesdudek7713]

@@PissBlitz The SR-71 has a reputation for not only outrunning jets but missiles as well.

[@garychiuminatto917]

It may have gotten a radar lock on the SR71 but at full throttle it couldn’t even stay within range of the Blackbird.

[@PissBlitz]

@@garychiuminatto917 Yes, the Blackbird has a 1000 km/h advantage over the Viggen. But it doesn't change the fact that the Viggen is the only foreign aircraft that has successfully intercepted and had confirmed radarlocks on more that one occasion. Intercepting and keeping pace and chasing are two very different things, the former being something only the Viggen managed to do, the latter being something not even modern fighter jets would be able to do.

[@MarginalSC]

@@PissBlitzI wonder about that. Better radars and hypersonics…

[@TheBioniXman]

Mirage, Falklands? They got trashed by a few little Harriers!

[@Solveig.Tissot]

Br'i'ish ships in Falklands ? They got trashed by a few little Exocets !

[@amramjose]

What an awesome machine. This aircraft also became the blue print for the Israeli Kfir, "son of Mirage".

[@boathemian7694]

One would think an intelligent species would have stopped building bombs after two horrible wars.

[@Jack-bs6zb]

So what? The English Electric Lightening also intercepted the U2. It could also break the sound barrier in a near vertical climb.

[@mathieuvigier1216]

You are the tenth to bring that up and it just show how envious and jealous you are ! You should have stayed in EU , we could have sold you Rafale 😉

[@nombinator]

I doubt that the Fairey Delta 2 was an inspiration for the MD550. The Convair XF-92 1st flight is in april 1948 and the SAAB 210 1st flight is in january 1952. And that's ignoring that the 1st appearance of a delta wing design was a patent in 1867 by british inventors and used in designs of french, german and swiss aircrafts in the 30's. What I've read about Dassault inspiration was about Lippisch P.13 project.

[@mikemines2931]

The EE Lightning dived on a U2 at 80,000 feet.

[@folkmoot36]

Why would Britain want the Mirage, we had a better plane in the English Electric Lightening. The Lightening caught the upgraded U2 which was believed to be immune from interceptors and passed it and went up to 88,000 ft 16.6 miles. And the lightening did something the Mirage and all the American fighters couldn't do, catch the Concorde. And as for Eipstein being a fighter ace. It was a Turkey shot for him, not much skill needed at all.

[@JaquiMacklin]

the english electric lightning did it first and after passing the u2 at 65,000ft ist carried on to 88,000ft. it also was the only plane to catch the concorde at mach 2 as the mirage and all the american jets could not..

[@dukeford8893]

No, the Lightning didn't do it first.

[@tonyhaynes9080]

See the video of the RAF Lightning do the same party trick but at a higher altitude.

[@IMCDundee]

87800? ish feet IIRC

[@RobertMarshall-d2n]

the Mirage did not do that well in the Falklands against the Harrier. The Brit pilots just hovered let the Mirage fly by then shot missiles up the tailpipes.

[@nimsbhide]

This is a great video but the background incessant background music is extremely distracting and makes the voice hard to listen to.

[@No1harris_98]

Honestly gotta love the Mirages.

[@mako2350]

try doing that with an SR-71 when they still flew... I'd pay good money to see that...

[@4spiderdude]

The background music was too loud to hear the commentary very well

[@theadvocate4698]

The background music is too loud and un-necessary, sorry

[@keaganairey1413]

My pops has the HA helmet and g suit used in a SAAF MIRAGE III C during the Border War.

[@JSFGuy]

Let's have a look.

[@carldietz9767]

What does photos of series production of radial aircraft engines have to do with jets.