The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. The Mirage 2000 evolved from a series of Dassault project performs from 1965 to 1975.It was designed as a lightweight fighter based on the Mirage III in the late 1970s for the French Air Force. The Mirage 2000 evolved into a successful multirole aircraft with several variants developed. The French Air Force developed a requirement for developing the Avion de Combat Futur (ACF) (French: "Future combat aircraft") in the early 1970.Radar development was critical in the Mirage 2000 project. Despite many obstacles, Marcel Dassault felt that a prototype could be flying in a year and a half, with operational introduction in 1982. In fact, the program was delayed, but by the standards of modern defense programs it was not all that big a schedule slip.[citation needed.The prototype made its first flight in 10 March 1978 with test pilot Jean Coreau at the controls. Despite all the new technologies applied, basing the new aircraft on the Mirage III allowed the development of a prototype in only 27 months from the program start to the first flight.
