French jet bomber donated to Yorkshire museum

The Allied Air Forces Memorial & Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington near York has been gifted a nuclear bomber aircraft by France.

The Dassault Mirage IVA weighs 31 tonnes and is set to become the only aircraft of its kind to go on display in Britain.

The aircraft was gifted by French Minister of Defence in Paris, M. Jean-Yves Le Drian,who formally signed the transfer agreement.

It is the first time that a strategic nuclear bomber has been gifted directly to an independent Museum of a different nation.

The huge delta winged Dassault Mirage lVA is 23.5m (77') long and 11.85m (39') wide. It weighs 31 tonnes and flew at speeds up to Mach 2.2 about 1,100 mph (2124kph).

The aircraft was originally on display at the Citée des Sciences Museum in Paris (Europe’s largest science museum) as France's iconic super jet. After the transfer it will be the only Mirage IV on display in Britain.