Te invito kfir a leer esta nota. Un poquito larga pero vale la pena.
Cheetahs and Mirage 50s for Ecuador
07-Oct-2009 18:30 EDT
Ecuador’s FAE currently operates a variety of fighter aircraft. 14 Israeli Kfirs, (12 + 2 two-seat trainers) upgraded to the C10/CE standard, 12 upgraded French Mirage F1 fighters originally delivered in 1978-80, and about 20 A-37 Dragonflys form their fighter core, with about 7 Jaguar strike aircraft that are reportedly in storage and unfit to fly. The Kfirs will last for a little while, but the Jaguars, Dragonflys, and Mirage F1s need replacement.
A deal is reportedly in the works for up to 24 of Brazil’s Super Tucanos, which are replacing the A-37 with a variety of Latin American air forces. They can’t replace the Jaguars and F1s, however, which has triggered a search for replacements that can be bought on a small budget. After investigating a number of offers, a deal with South Africa is reportedly in the works. Meanwhile, Venezuela has stepped in with an offer of its own…
The Reported Deals
South Africa’s Denel Aviation has confirmed that talks are underway concerning an order for its Cheetah-C aircraft, which bear a number of similarities to Ecuador’s Kfir CEs but have French SNECMA engines and older radars. The offer includes 12 aircraft, plus a complete 5-year, renewable maintenance and support package. Complete maintenance and acceptance flight testing would be conducted in South Africa and in Ecuador, and Denel expects a deal to be finalized before the end of 2009.
Denel Aviation was the prime contractor in the development of the Cheetah during the mid 1980s, holds official design authority for the aircraft, and also performed contractor support for South Africa’s fleet until its 2008 phase-out. They were involved with the structured phase out of the Cheetah logistic support system, and witnessed the packaging of the systems and equipment for storage pending a possible sale.
The key questions Ecuador must consider are whether Denel can support the Cheetah-C radars and avionics by itself, and their ability to replace Israeli weapons with South African weapons if the USA chooses to block future Israeli military sales or services to Ecuador.
As part of his campaign for wider influence in Ecuador and in Latin America, Venezuelan Strongman Hugo Chavez stepped in to offer Ecuador 6 of the FAV’s Mirage 50M fighters. Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has been a close ally of the Chavez regime’s for several years. Unfortunately, the Mirage 50Ms are less advanced than the Israeli-upgraded Mirage F1s they might replace, and their state of maintenance is not certain. Reports indicate that if Ecuador does accept Venezuela’s Mirage 50Ms, they would likely serve in a training role as transitions from the pending Super Tucanos to Ecuador’s Kfir/ Cheetah fighters.
As is often the case, however, training aircraft may be pressed into double duty. The Super Tucanos will perform as very capable counter-insurgency and light attack aircraft, as well as being excellent 2nd-stage flight trainers. Likewise, any serviceable Mirage 50s on hand would also be available for combat if the situation demanded it, and might offer a second option if the FAE’s Kfir fleet ends up grounded.
The question for Ecuador’s FAE is whether the money and effort required to maintain the Mirages would add a meaningful capability, or end up being an expensive diversion that came disguised as a bargain.
The Aircraft
The Atlas Cheetah was derived from South Africa’s Mirage III fleet. Since the Israeli Kfir was already a modification of Israeli-built Mirage Vs, they were able to help South Africa upgrade their planes to a similar standard by adding small canards, avionics improvements, radar and self-defense equipment, and modernized weapons. Cheetahs were produced in a number of variants.
Creating a Cheetah involved a structural reset to create a “zero flying hours” airframe, plus the standard Cheetah additions of non-moving canards, additional stores pylons at the wing roots, an aerial refuelling probe, new ejection seats, the SNECMA Atar 9K50 engine, modified wings, modern elevons, strakes on the nose, Israeli avionics that included Elbit’s DASH helmet-mounted display (HMD), a twin computer flight control system, and the ability to use South African or Israeli weapons. Chile reportedly bought 5 earlier-model Cheetahs in 2003, in order to serve as a source of spares for its now-retired Pantera fleet of Mirage 50s with Kfir-like upgrades.
The Cheetah-C was the most advanced variant. It reportedly added a single-piece wrap-around windshield with an anti-radiation coating, a new in-flight refuelling probe with less external piping, new undercarriage and suspension, an upgraded variant of the SNECMA Atar 9K50 engine, a more modern radar (rumored to be the same IAI EL/M-2032 that equips Israeli F-16s and FAE Kfir C10s), upgraded Elbit HMDs, and modernized ECM and self defense suites. Previous Cheetah variants were limited to carrying short range air-air missiles, but the Cheetah C can use Derby/R-Darter BVRAAMs(Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missiles) as well. The FAE already uses Israeli missiles and strike weapons, so its compatibility would be an asset.
Cheetah-Cs served as South Africa’s front-line fighter ahead of the SAAF’s Mirage F1s, until they were phased out in 2008 in favor of the new JAS-39C/D Gripen. Brazil was reportedly offered Cheetahs to replace its own recently-retired Mirage 5BRs, but chose to purchase used French Mirage 2000s instead.
The Mirage V was designed in conjunction with the Israelis, who had made Dassault’s Mirage III famous. It actually removed avionics and radar capabilities from the Mirage III, in order to add more fuel and more weapons. The resulting plane was optimized for clear-weather attack roles, and close air combat. Israel’s Col. Giora Epstein (ret.) remains the world’s top-scoring jet ace. Most of his 17 kills were scored in Israeli Neshers (Mirage 5s), including one memorable fight in 1973 when he dueled 11 Egyptian MiG-21s, all by himself, and shot down 3.
The Mirage 50 is a 1980s-1990s Mirage III/V upgrade that added the Atar 9K-50 engine and Cyrano IV-M3 radar, among other improvements. It did not substantially change the basic airframe, however, whose design had lost much of its competitiveness by that time. The Mirage 50 was not a popular export; only Chile (Mirage 50/Pantera) and Venezuela (Mirage 50M) ordered them, and in the 1990s, Chile went on to upgrade its planes to the Kfir-like Pantera configuration with Israeli help. Chile’s Panteras were recently phased out in favor of new F-16 C/Ds, and they were reportedly one of the offers made to Ecuador’s government.
Israel went down a different road. They switched in the American GE J79 turbojet that powered the Cheyl Ha’avir’s F-4 Phantoms, and heavily modified the Nesher airframe and electronics, in order to design IAI’s canard-winged Kfir series fighters. This expertise would lead the Israelis to assist in the similar South African Cheetah and Chilean Pantera programs. Ecuador currently flies the Kfir C10/CE, the family’s most advanced variant with IAI’s popular EL/M-2032 radar, a fully digital cockpit, and the ability to carry precision weapons and radar-guided air-air missiles.
The GE J79 is no longer in production, but more than 2,500 engines remain in service around the world. GE still offers related services, and there is no shortage of spares via the USAF’s AMARC “Boneyard” near Tucson. Unless, of course, the USA decides at some point to block military sales to Ecuador.
...
. Faltaba más.
