[en] The MFTF is a large new mirror facility under construction at Livermore for completion in 1981--82. It represents a scaleup, by a factor of 50 in plasma volume, a factor of 5 or more in ion energy, and a factor of 4 in magnetic field intensity over the Livermore 2XIIB experiment. Its magnet, employing superconducting NbTi windings, is of Yin-Yang form and will weigh 200 tons. MFTF will be driven by neutral beams of two levels of current and energy: 1000 amperes of 20 keV (accelerating potential) pulsed beams for plasma startup; 750 amperes of 80 keV beams of 0.5 second duration for temperature buildup and plasma sustainment. Two operating modes for MFTF are envisaged: The first is operation as a conventional mirror cell with n/sup tau/ approximately equal to 10¹² cm^-3 sec, W/sub i/ = 50 keV, where the emphasis will be on studying the physics of mirror cells, particularly the issues of improved techniques of stabilization against ion cyclotron modes and of maximization of the electron temperature. The second possible mode is the further study of the Field Reversed Mirror idea, using high current neutral beams to sustain the field-reversed state. Anticipating success in the coming Livermore Tandem Mirror Experiment (TMX) MFTF has been oriented so that it could comprise one end cell of a scaled up TM experiment. Also, if MFTF were to succeed in achieving a FR state it could serve as an essentially full-sized physics prototype of one cell of a FRM fusion power plant