When it became clear that the Mirage F1 was becoming a successful production aircraft, Dassault began investigating the possibility of a dedicated reconnaissance version for its most important client, the French Air Force.
Kada je postalo jasno da će Dassault Mirage F1 postati uspješan zrakoplov s velikom proizvodnjom, Dassault Aviation je počeo istraživati mogućnost razvoja izviđačke inačice za potrebe svojeg najvažnijeg klijenta, francuske zračne snage.