In April 1973, nuclear weapons were pressed into service with Dassault Mirage IIIE fighter-bombers of the EC 2/4 La Fayette squadron. Based on the Mirage IIIC interceptor, the IIIE was the multi-role and strike variant with an extended fuselage necessary for a larger avionics bay and an additional fuel tanks. Furthermore, it received a British-made Marconi continuous-wave Doppler navigation radar under the forward fuselage. The weapons system was centred on the Thomson-CSF Cyrano II dual mode radar, and the typical warload in the strike mission included a single AN.52 nuclear bomb installed under the centreline. Except for the EC 2/4, the sole other Mirage IIIE-unit equipped with such weapons was the EC 1/4 Dauphine. During the 1970s, their nuclear bombs were replaced by anti-radar missiles (right lower corner) (Artwork by Tom Cooper)