Did a littlme more checking and found the following from Jane’s Online (dtd. April 2001):

Spain – Final Mirage F1 upgrade delivered

Michael J Gething

The last of 52 upgraded Dassault C.14 Mirage F1 fighters was handed-over to the Spanish Air Force by EADS/CASA at its Getafe facility on 15 March, writes Michael J Gething.

The modernisation contract, valued at FFr700 million (US$96m), was awarded to Thomson-CSF RCM (now part of the Thales Group) in October 1996. It covered a servic- life extension programme (SLEP) and avionics upgrade for 48 F1CE/EE (C.14A/B) single-seaters and four F1EDA (C.14C) two-seat trainers.

Spanish companies Amper Programas, Indra and CASA (which became part of EADS in July 2000) acted as sub-contractors, together with ATE of South Africa (being responsible for the design and integration of the navigation, display and weapons systems).

Apart from the SLEP, the upgrade package includes a revised cockpit configuration with colour liquid crystal displays and a Smart HUD (from Sextant Avionique, now also part of Thales); a Sextant inertial navigation system with GPS interface; air-to-ground radar rangefinding; NATO-compatible Have Quick 2 secure communications; Mode 4 digital IFF; a defensive aids suite; and flight recorders.

The upgraded prototype (prepared by SABCA of Belgium) was test-flown in April 1998. The remaining aircraft being modernised in Spain by CASA. The first upgraded Mirage F1 was delivered in March 1999 and deliveries continued at the rate of two per month since.

The final C.14 Mirage F1 fighter, upgraded by Thales, was handed over to the Spanish Air Force last month. (Source: EADS/CASA)

http://www.janes.com/regional_news/europe/news/jdu/jdu010426_1_n.shtml

Big Fan of the Mirage F1. Questions about Iraqi and Spanish F1s:

Iraq: For the overall dark grey versions carrying Exocet, once in service did these carry the tail flag/flash and triangle insignia in all 6 positions (rear fuselagex2, top and bottom of both wings?)? I’ve seen 1 or 2 photos with just the 4 digit a/c number on the nose but those may have been delivery photos. Any photos of such a/c?

Spain: does anyone have information or links to detailed info about the modification program Spain put its F1s through to upgrade and standardize in the late-90s/2000? Googling hasn’t produced much for me.

Just picked up this thread. OCJ did you ever publish? I’d be very interested in such a project and have been trying to find every photo and info possible on the F-5A Freedom Fighter, as delivered.

Does anyone know if Libya kept the “ROYAL LIBYAN AIR FORCE” tag on the tails under the serial ##s up to 1975 or were these removed or changed after Qaddhafi came into power?