After 43 years of service, the Fuerza Aerea Argentina waved goodbye to the Dassault Mirage on 29 November with a farewell ceremony and air display at Tandil air base south of Buenos Aires. Since 1997 the only unit to operate the Mirage has been Grupo 6 de Caza of the Ⅵ Brigada Aerea at Tandil, where five aircraft of differing variants flew at the show. The oldest was a Mirage ⅢEA, one of 17 examples of Dassault's export version of the Mirage Ⅲ built for Argentina. When it entered service in 1973, the ⅢEA was the first supersonic interceptor in Argentine Air Force service. It was to achieve fame nine years later during the Falklands conflict. Of similar vintage was a two-seat trainer variant, the ⅢDA, two of which were supplied in 1973, and two more in 1982. On 11 December these two aircraft were flown to Cordoba, where they have joined the collection of the Museo Nacional de Aeronautica.
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