Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir C.2
While the Mirage IIICJ in Israeli Air Force (Heyl Ha’avir) service had proven the Mirage to be a superb fighter, it was not really designed as a ground-attack aircraft, though Israel had often been forced into using it as such. As a result, Israel commissioned Dassault Aircraft of France to design a clear-weather variant of the Mirage III, designed to have better ground-attack capability and range than the CJ fighter-interceptor. This new version was designated the Mirage 5J by Dassault, but following the Six-Day War, President Charles de Gaulle, attempting to improve Franco-Arab relations, embargoed the Mirage 5J, which went into French Armee de l’Air service instead. Israel was later able to covertly acquire plans for the Mirage 5 from Dassault, as well as a number of Atar 9C engines, and built their own version of the Mirage 5J, improving on the design slightly as the Nesher (Dagger).
Though the Nesher performed superbly in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, it retained the problems of the Atar 9-powered Mirage series: a tendency towards compressor stalls in high angles of attack and lack of power compared to other aircraft. Israel Aircraft Industries had already begun research into adapting the Mirage to carry the far more powerful American General Electric J79 turbojet, which powered the F-4 Phantom IIs in Israeli service. The J79 had more than enough power, but also needed much more airflow than the Atar 9, and operated at much hotter temperatures. Using a two-seat Mirage IIIBJ as a test bed, the rear fuselage had to be widened, air scoops added to the rear fuselage and at the base of the tail, and a titanium casing built for the J79. This proved to be successful, and a second conversion of a Nesher resulted in the prototype Kfir (Lion Cub), which first flew in June 1973. Production of the Kfir C.1 would not begin until after the Yom Kippur War; while it would enter service in 1974, its existence was not publicly revealed until a year later.
While the Kfir C.1 was adequate, the power of the J79 was such that, at high speeds, the aircraft was difficult to control, with a tendency to both “snake” through the sky in uncontrollable turns, and to provide too much power to the pilot. It also lacked radar, though early Kfirs had their noses painted black to fool observers into thinking it did. IAI embarked on a program to cure this problem, which resulted in the Kfir C.2. This changed the appearance of the Kfir completely by adding large canards to the intakes, strakes on the slightly longer nose, and more cooling intakes. This cured not only the tendency towards loss of control at high speeds, it also lowered the Kfir’s landing speeds and made it more maneuverable at low speed. The leading edge of the wing was altered to a “sawtooth” design, which also improved performance. As radars became smaller, a ranging radar for attack missions was added as well. While the Kfir was not the first aircraft to use the canard/delta combination (the Saab Viggen entered service just before the Kfir C.2), the use of this combination would be subsequently adopted by several Mirage III/5 users for the same reasons, namely by South Africa, who converted a number of their Mirage IIIs to essentially Kfir clones as the Cheetah.
The Kfir C.2, and its upgraded successor the C.7, would see action beginning in 1977 and culminating in the Lebanon War of 1982, in various airstrikes first against terrorist targets in Lebanon and Syria, and then against Syrian forces directly. Though the Kfir was a good fighter, it was used mainly in the ground attack role, as Israel’s F-15 Eagles were much better suited for air superiority missions. Israel retired its Kfirs by 1996 in favor of F-16C Fighting Falcons, offering surplus aircraft on the open market. Since sale of Kfirs also needed US approval (as the Kfir uses an American engine), foreign sales have been limited to Colombia, Ecuador, and Sri Lanka; Colombia has upgraded its aircraft to C.10 standard, with a full multimode radar, making the Kfir a truly multirole fighter. At least 220 Kfirs were built.
Dad built this IDF/AF Kfir C.2 for the Malmstrom AFB Museum in the early 1980s. This angle shows the Kfir's canard-delta design, as well as the standard IDF/AF desert camouflage of the time--dark brown and mint green over desert tan. The large yellow triangles were applied so as not to confuse the Kfirs with Egyptian or Jordanian Mirages in a dogfight. (Israel's Mirage III fleet carried the triangles for the same reason, and Egypt applies orange panels to its F-16s so they are not confused for Israeli ones!) This aircraft, 716, belonged to 101 Squadron based at Hatzor for at least some of its career, and carries the squadron's red-hatched rudder and winged-skull insignia on the tail. It carries a light load for a Kfir--two Shafrir 2 air-to-air missiles and a single belly drop tank.
Considering its age (Dad built it in 1984) and the fact that it has spent the last 20 years in storage, it still looks good, with only a little bit of the decals starting to turn brittle. The real Kfir 716 still exists, last reported as in storage in Israel, though it may also serve with the independent defense contractor ATAC as an aggressor aircraft.
Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir C.2
While the Mirage IIICJ in Israeli Air Force (Heyl Ha’avir) service had proven the Mirage to be a superb fighter, it was not really designed as a ground-attack aircraft, though Israel had often been forced into using it as such. As a result, Israel commissioned Dassault Aircraft of France to design a clear-weather variant of the Mirage III, designed to have better ground-attack capability and range than the CJ fighter-interceptor. This new version was designated the Mirage 5J by Dassault, but following the Six-Day War, President Charles de Gaulle, attempting to improve Franco-Arab relations, embargoed the Mirage 5J, which went into French Armee de l’Air service instead. Israel was later able to covertly acquire plans for the Mirage 5 from Dassault, as well as a number of Atar 9C engines, and built their own version of the Mirage 5J, improving on the design slightly as the Nesher (Dagger).
Though the Nesher performed superbly in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, it retained the problems of the Atar 9-powered Mirage series: a tendency towards compressor stalls in high angles of attack and lack of power compared to other aircraft. Israel Aircraft Industries had already begun research into adapting the Mirage to carry the far more powerful American General Electric J79 turbojet, which powered the F-4 Phantom IIs in Israeli service. The J79 had more than enough power, but also needed much more airflow than the Atar 9, and operated at much hotter temperatures. Using a two-seat Mirage IIIBJ as a test bed, the rear fuselage had to be widened, air scoops added to the rear fuselage and at the base of the tail, and a titanium casing built for the J79. This proved to be successful, and a second conversion of a Nesher resulted in the prototype Kfir (Lion Cub), which first flew in June 1973. Production of the Kfir C.1 would not begin until after the Yom Kippur War; while it would enter service in 1974, its existence was not publicly revealed until a year later.
While the Kfir C.1 was adequate, the power of the J79 was such that, at high speeds, the aircraft was difficult to control, with a tendency to both “snake” through the sky in uncontrollable turns, and to provide too much power to the pilot. It also lacked radar, though early Kfirs had their noses painted black to fool observers into thinking it did. IAI embarked on a program to cure this problem, which resulted in the Kfir C.2. This changed the appearance of the Kfir completely by adding large canards to the intakes, strakes on the slightly longer nose, and more cooling intakes. This cured not only the tendency towards loss of control at high speeds, it also lowered the Kfir’s landing speeds and made it more maneuverable at low speed. The leading edge of the wing was altered to a “sawtooth” design, which also improved performance. As radars became smaller, a ranging radar for attack missions was added as well. While the Kfir was not the first aircraft to use the canard/delta combination (the Saab Viggen entered service just before the Kfir C.2), the use of this combination would be subsequently adopted by several Mirage III/5 users for the same reasons, namely by South Africa, who converted a number of their Mirage IIIs to essentially Kfir clones as the Cheetah.
The Kfir C.2, and its upgraded successor the C.7, would see action beginning in 1977 and culminating in the Lebanon War of 1982, in various airstrikes first against terrorist targets in Lebanon and Syria, and then against Syrian forces directly. Though the Kfir was a good fighter, it was used mainly in the ground attack role, as Israel’s F-15 Eagles were much better suited for air superiority missions. Israel retired its Kfirs by 1996 in favor of F-16C Fighting Falcons, offering surplus aircraft on the open market. Since sale of Kfirs also needed US approval (as the Kfir uses an American engine), foreign sales have been limited to Colombia, Ecuador, and Sri Lanka; Colombia has upgraded its aircraft to C.10 standard, with a full multimode radar, making the Kfir a truly multirole fighter. At least 220 Kfirs were built.
Dad built this IDF/AF Kfir C.2 for the Malmstrom AFB Museum in the early 1980s. This angle shows the Kfir's canard-delta design, as well as the standard IDF/AF desert camouflage of the time--dark brown and mint green over desert tan. The large yellow triangles were applied so as not to confuse the Kfirs with Egyptian or Jordanian Mirages in a dogfight. (Israel's Mirage III fleet carried the triangles for the same reason, and Egypt applies orange panels to its F-16s so they are not confused for Israeli ones!) This aircraft, 716, belonged to 101 Squadron based at Hatzor for at least some of its career, and carries the squadron's red-hatched rudder and winged-skull insignia on the tail. It carries a light load for a Kfir--two Shafrir 2 air-to-air missiles and a single belly drop tank.
Considering its age (Dad built it in 1984) and the fact that it has spent the last 20 years in storage, it still looks good, with only a little bit of the decals starting to turn brittle. The real Kfir 716 still exists, last reported as in storage in Israel, though it may also serve with the independent defense contractor ATAC as an aggressor aircraft.