 Acting on media speculation that the Iroquois engine program was also in jeopardy of being cancelled , the French government , whose original intention had been to place a major order for 300 Iroquois engines for the Dassault Mirage IV bomber , chose to end negotiations in October 1958 and opted for an upgraded version of the indigenous SNECMA Atar , instead . There was never an explanation for this decision offered by the French government , even after Avro tried to offer the Iroquois as a private venture . 
