Dassault Mirage IIIV

The Dassault Mirage IIIV was a French vertical take-off and landing prototype fighter of the mid-1960s, built by Dassault Aviation as a VTOL derivative of the Dassault Mirage III. Its main difference from the Mirage III was a set of eight small vertical lift jets straddling the main engine, active only for take-off and landing. It was a response to the NATO Basic Military Requirement 3, which sought a supersonic-capable VTOL strike fighter, and it competed with the Hawker Siddeley P.1154. Two prototypes were built; the first began hovering trials on 12 February 1965, and the second reached Mach 2.04 in level flight in September 1966 before it was lost in an accident that November. The P.1154 won the requirement, the project was abandoned, and the surviving aircraft is on public display.