The Dassault Mirage 2000 was developed as an alternative to what was proving to be a very expensive swing-wing and as a replacement for the Mirage III and F1. It may have replaced these planes but the Mirage 2000 used the same delta wing design as its predecessors. By basing the new aircraft heavily on the Mirage III Dassault was able to have a flyable version in only 27 months. There were four single-seat prototype aircraft built including the initial Mirage 2000-01 that was first flown by test pilot Jean Coreau on March 10, 1978. That same summer at the Farnborough Air Show the Mirage 2000 put on a very
impressive display and demonstrated the new computer control system that overcame the usual pitfalls of
a delta wing.