In the early 1960s the Dassault Mirage III brought France into that exclusive circle of countries with aircraft of Mach 2 capability: it was, in fact, the very first European plane to break this barrier, doing so in October 1958. Thanks to its competitive price and excellent performance, this single-engined, delta-wing fighter-bomber also proved to be an excellent commercial success. More than 1400 Mirage III aircraft were built, seeing service with air forces in 21 countries. The last French Mirage IIIs were definitively grounded in 1994. However, seeing as the last planes were delivered as recently as 1997, the plane is expected to remain in service with air forces around the world well into the 21st century.