aircraft/loadouts IAI Kfir / Israeli brother closer to the Mirage

[pieve 3,578]

                       Israel

                       IAI Kfir

 

Copied from the French Mirage, Israeli hunting has become one of the best praducts of modern aeronautical engineering.

 

The production of fighter jets in Israeli territory is fraught with a desperate need to maintain air superiority in qualitative terms over the neighboring Azerbaijan States, whose combined air forces possess a much larger number. It also comes from the urge to counter embargoes on the supply of weapons, a deadly dangerous situation that occurred in the most serious moments of the short and shady history of Israel. This endeavor, laden with epochs of warlike industrial espionage and admirable technology initiative, has resulted in the development of IAI Kifr, one of the best multi-employment light fighters of international military aviation.
The Six Day War, in June 1967, led the Israeli States to an inevitable and important change of conduct. To deal a fulminate preemptive strike against Egypt and Syria, destroying the soil aviation enemies came accumulated for an expected invasion of their territory, Israel gave a demonstration of the achieved power in the decade of 60, as well as the competence of its planners military. But the friendly countries - the United States and European nations - disapproved of the surprising action and protested. As a result, some of these countries shifted from disapproval to deeds and retained or restricted the supply of weapons purchased by Israel. This forces the Jewish state to consider the possibilities of starting to produce its own equipment or to obtain it by indirect means.

 

Among the nations that took immediate action against the Israelis was France. The French government allowed the delivery of spare parts and support equipment, but vetoed the shipment of the new planes and patrol boats already ordered. After the Israeli attack on Beirut airport in December 1968, the French embargo extended to all categories of military supplies, which lasted until mid-1973, when Egypt and Syria joined forces and attacked Israel on two fronts , Sinai and Golan.
In the 1967 war, the core of the Israeli Air Force (Heyl Ha 'Avir) consisted of three Dassault Mirage IIICJ squadrons, out of a total of 72 aircraft supplied directly by France. Rumor had it that twenty more had been delivered shortly before the war, information never confirmed.
It is known, however, that there was an order of fifty Mirage 5J, with signed contract, part of the payment already made and benefits paid as the planes were being manufactured. As a result of the embargo, these airplanes were initially stored; when it became clear that there was no possibility of resolving the short-term impasse, they were incorporated into the Armée de I'Air (the French Air Force) under the designation Mirage 5F (they formed two squadrons: EC III / 13 "Auvergne" and EC III / 3 "Ardennes." The French forces were thus given an unexpected boost, while the Israelis suddenly found themselves with a number of combat apparatuses far below the stipulations of their intelligence services. which was worse, with no immediate prospect of compensating for such a loss.

 

Following the entry into service of the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom in September 1969, Heyl Ha 'Avir now has three types of combat aircraft, all of which are effective in their respective application: the Phantom, Skyhawk and Mirage . The McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, a veritable "pump truck" of economical use, was used for closed support. The F-4E Phantom, an expensive and costly aircraft with high performance and electronic equipment, competed long-range attack missions in Arab territory as well as the defense of Israeli cities at any time. The Mirage IIICJ was between the two in terms of price and, being small, fast and of great maneuverability, was the only one that could fulfill the role of hunting for aerial supremacy in good atmospheric conditions. It behaved better than the Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-21 employed by Arab air forces in short-range combat and, in the hands of well-trained Israeli Air Force pilots, could guarantee the high rate of downed enemies that small force of Israel needed to survive.

 

This photo you can see IAI Kfir C-2 flying over the base. The Kfir-C2, manufactured by IAI (Israel Aircraft Industries), were replaced in their air superiority fighter functions by the American F-16. But until the mid 80's, moderns operated by Heyl Ha 'Avir.

 

Israelis needed a plane for DogFight

With French-made fighters reduced by war and embargo - and continuing to decline as a result of normal losses occasioned by peacetime training - the Israeli priority turned to the search for an equal device. The new plane should be like Mirage and, if possible, perform better on the DogFight, so it could face the more advanced Mig generations. In addition, it would also need to be able to perform ground attack missions in order to help or even replace the aging A-4 in the future.
The solution to the problem was to produce the Mirage in Israel, adapting it to local needs. But the task of copying an entire plane, its turbine, and its operational equipment (like the Tupolev Tu-4s, copied from the American Boeing-B-29 bomber), is a laborious process that requires almost as much time and to design and manufacture a new appliance. But Israel needed quick results and, in that sense, had many sympathizers in the foreigner in a position to expedite the process.

 

 

It has never been possible to find out exactly how the Mirage production in Israel was implemented. Naturally, a large industrial park, capable of manufacturing all the necessary items, from avionics to hydraulic systems, through electrical components, instruments, wheels, tires, brakes, etc., did not appear overnight. Or the original French equipment arrived through third parties (even direct from France as spare parts for aircraft that did not exist) or material from several countries, probably from the United States, replaced it.
It is a known fact that IAI (Israel Aircraft Industries) managed a complete set of Mirage plants and that they may have come from France, Switzerland, Australia or - much more plausible hypothesis - of the Dassault organization, despite the embargo of material for Israel still be in force. It is also known that the Israeli intelligence service obtains in Switzerland a nearly complete set of silts from the SNECMA Atar turbine, through an employee of Sulzer (the manufacturer of the equipment under license). This official, Alfred Frauenkecht, was later sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison for facilitating Israel's military reinforcement against the Arabs; and, ironically, Atar's plants only served to manufacture spare parts for the original French impellers.

 

Kfir C.2 with an interesting weapons combination
 

The Mirage manufactured by IAI was named Nesher, presumably modified to suit local needs and equipment already available in Israel. Reports tell of a first flight of this plane in September 1969, but it seems little proval that the Israelis have obtained the plans, the assembly templates, organized all the tooling, and built the first device in just two years. More realistic would be the hypothesis that a Mirage made in France had been modified for Nesher and that this apparatus made an experimental flight at that date. This is more in keeping with the information that hunting supplies began in 1972 and that close to forty were in service at the time of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. The French Mirage continued to be used by the Israeli Air Force over the years 70, but the Nesher are believed to have been retired in 1974, probably converted to the Kfir standard.

 

IAI Kfir taking off from base

Remediation work requires well-trained personnel. Ground-attack loads show that blue has also been used in multi-purpose appliances. In the cockpit, the Martin-Baker zero-zero ejectable seat and other British components complete the on-board systems.

Kfir-C2 warfare loading options. In addition to the two DEFA guns and the tapes with 125 30mm projectiles, several fall bombs deliver multiple rockets, multiple ammunition and cartridge ejectors complete the set.

Kfir C-2 with its twin DEFA 30mm cannon and ammunition

 

The bird opens its wings

By the end of the 1960s, Israel needed to guard against the more advanced Mig fighters, especially the 23 and 27 fighters, which the Arabs would soon be operating, and mainly because of the pressure exerted by the air superiority. The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, which could eventually solve the problem, only flew in 1974 and even then just for demonstration technology.
From the Israeli point of view, due to the good maneuverability and comfortable cockpit, the Mirage represented a solid base for development, although it requires more thrust and greater load capacity. In addition, it could dispense with the Cyrano radar, considered a lot, where the visibility is almost always optimum and the fighters can be directed by the ground radars until the target eye contact.
The first problem was solved by supplying the General Electric J79 turbine, the same as that of the McDonnell Douglas Phantom F-4E. With postburner and thrust of 8,119 kg, this propeller provided 35% more power over the 6,000 kg of the original Mirage Atar 09 Aero 09. As the J79 turbine is shorter and has a larger diameter than that of the Atar, the rear fuselage of the aircraft has undergone some changes, with a consonant impairment of internal fuel capacity. Additional air intakes were added in order to obtain better refrigeration in the afterburner area. Many other changes were processed: brand new cockpit; changes in electronics, including some Israeli-made equipment; more resistant landing gear, which made it possible to lift the weight at takeoff; and prediction of greater belica load, increment present in a new internal subalar support, close to the root of the wing. The development of the Mirage project with the J79 turbine, later called the Kfir, began in 1969. A French model IIIBJ modified to receive the J79 flew for the first time on October 19,1970. The first Kfir of truly Israeli manufacture was ready in mid-1973. But a Mirage IIICJ, monoplace, adapted to the Kfir pattern, took off in September 1971.

This first Kfir (did not hear Kfir-C1) showed up at Ben Gurion Airport on 14 April 1975 when two copies were presented to the press. According to the information released, the entegas began in the same month, but only forty aircraft left the production lines (to form two squadrons), since the model was later collected and modified for the Kfir-C2.
The simple delta wings of the Mirage and the first Kfir had several excellent features, such as very low drag (as a result of the steepening and gradual change in the cross section) and great volume to store fuel to house the landing gear. Its disadvantage was the need for a high coefficient of support (force that maintains the aircraft in flight) in acrobatics, approaches or takeoffs, a common "defect" to all aircraft with delta. This means that the function of the ailerons (bearing) and of the elevators (rise and dive) in the convetional airplanes happens to be executed, in the devices in delta, only by the elevons. And these, in the landings, demand greater loads down, which ends up reducing the total support of the wing. And its small elongation (ratio between wingspan and average wing width) results in some contrivance in the sustained-curve ratio (ability to maintain power in steeply inclined curves), causing the aircraft's speed to decrease in the closed corners.

 

Teeth on wings and canard

It has long been known that the performance of a wing in delta could be increased by the addition of a canard surface (small wings placed forward in the front fuselage), as demonstrated by the Saab Viggen, which flew in 1967. The possibility of modifying the basic Mirage format was of interest to both Dassault and IAI, but it was the Israeli industry that first explored the concept in Kfir-C2. The Kfir-C2 front wings have two main functions: first, they provoke a swirling in the air, which reacts favorably with that of the wing, and the two surfaces, acting together, produce much greater support than if they operated separately; second, the frontal plane is slightly destabilizing because it moves forward the center of pressure. This eliminates the application of loads down in the elevons during flight, and the airplane responds better to the pitch (maneuver in which it lowers or elevates the nose of the device), besides reducing the drag. They complete the development of two narrow nose flaps, which maintain directional stability under many high angles of attack. The same effect is achieved longitudinally by the tooth-shaped extensions at the leading edge, which replace the Mirage slits.

 

The overall result was a large acrobatic aircraft with a lift coefficient increased by 20% at normal flying positions and substantially at higher angles of attack. In the early 1980s, the Israelis considered their device superior to all Mig-21 models, which could hit the Mirage in supersonic acceleration and still represented Israel's main air-to-air threat. Since piloted by men of the same technical level, the Kfir-C2 was seen as an adversary at the height of the Mig-23, of variable geometry, especially when one considers that the latter could not change the fluttering of its wings in full maneuver. Due to the quality of its pilots, it was anticipated at the time a useful performance of the Kfir many years still.

 

Kfir C.2 armed for interception

(Specifications IAI Kfir)

Spoiler

IAI Kfir C-2
Type: multipurpose monoplace hunting.
Propulsion: A General Electric J79-GE-17 turbine with afterburner, 8,020 kg of static thrust, manufactured by Bet-Shemesh.
Performance: speed: in level flight at high altitude, 2,655 km / h or Mach 2,5; at sea level, 1,390 km / h or Mach 1,136; reaches 15,250m in height and Mach 2 in 4 minutes and 30 seconds; service ceiling 18,000m; radius of action in combat patrol (high-low-high), 655 km with 40 minutes in combat air; 680 km in ground attack missions with six 227 kg (low-high-altitude) bombs.
Weights: normal combat (with two missiles air-air Shafrir and 50% of whole fuel), 9,370 kg; take off, 14,570 kg.
Dimensions: wingspan, 8.22 m; length, 15.55m; height, 4.55m; wing area, 34.8 m².
Weapons: Two 30mm DEFA guns with 280 projectiles and up to 4,000 kg of external loads on eight fixing brackets. 2 × AIM-9 Sidewinder, or Shafrir or Python-series AAMs; 2 × Shrike

source:

Spoiler

http://www.dror-aero.com/pro/lavi5.pdf

http://www.fisher.org.il/DLFlippingBooks/English/Kfir/files/assets/basic-html/page1.html

https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=152

 

Edited January 26, 2019 by pieve

[leroyonly 4,311]

Open for discussion. 

[dotEXCEL 5,969]

+1

[SuperiorCamaro 441]

I know someone not going to like this one buuuut, I say give it to the Americans in the future as a rank 6 premium, as the f21 

[TerikG2014 1,389]

7 hours ago, SuperiorCamaro said:

I know someone not going to like this one buuuut, I say give it to the Americans in the future as a rank 6 premium, as the f21 

Why it's got far closer ties to the French than the Yanks?

Edited February 19, 2019 by TerikG2014

[sh4d0w 1,693]

On 19/02/2019 at 20:19, TerikG2014 said:

Why it's got far closer ties to the French than the Yanks?

 

U.S.Navy operated the Kfir as Aggressors.

 

 

[Fa11enPhoenix 1,405]

On 19/02/2019 at 19:19, TerikG2014 said:

Why it's got far closer ties to the French than the Yanks?

 

It may be derived from a French design but the US is the only nation in game that actually flew them, albeit briefly and in a non combat role.

[Z3r0_ 4,128]

On 20/02/2019 at 14:26, sh4d0w said:

 

U.S.Navy operated the Kfir as Aggressors.

 

 

 

Yep, under the designation F-21A iirc (which is going to create some confusion seeing as Lockheed-Martin recently announced a new fighter to be made in India called the F-21, which looks like an F-16 derivative as far as I can tell).

[pieve 3,578]

A very strong candidate to be a tier-6 premium for france

[Z3r0_ 4,128]

On 10/06/2019 at 12:25, pieve said:

A very strong candidate to be a tier-6 premium for france

 

I don't see rank 6 premiums being a thing for a while, at least before the implementation of rank 7 aviation (which could certainly happen, but not for a couple of years at the earliest).  Making it an event plane is more likely.

[perpetualbard4 9]

On 23/02/2019 at 17:45, Z3r0_ said:

 

Yep, under the designation F-21A iirc (which is going to create some confusion seeing as Lockheed-Martin recently announced a new fighter to be made in India called the F-21, which looks like an F-16 derivative as far as I can tell).

Yep, F-21A Lion. It also has a licensed copy of the J79 as its engine, so really the only thing French about it is that it was derived from the Mirage V

[FouManchou 2,463]

On 12/06/2019 at 05:44, perpetualbard4 said:

the only thing French about it is

the whole aircraft

[TyphoonCro 6,833]

We all know where this aircraft will end up some day...

In baguette tech tree

[pieve 3,578]

On 19/10/2019 at 20:01, TyphoonCro said:

We all know where this aircraft will end up some day...

In baguette tech tree

yes, a future French premium on Tier-VI

[yoyolast 1,710]

I may make a separate post for this, but I personally feel like it would be better if we got the IAI Nesher (also called IAI Dagger in the Argentinian air force). It is true that the IAI Kfir as derivative of the Nesher that was developed in parallel to posses a different engine is a more unique plane, However the Nesher/Dagger was more historically important as it was used effectively in 2 major world conflicts being the Yom Kippur war in Israel and the Falklands war in Argentina. The IAI Kfir however never participated in these conflicts or in any major conflicts to my knowledge so I feel it should still be in the game but after the Nesher.

 

This desire to see the Nesher/Dagger in game was actually further strengthened for me when the Harriers were revealed. If war thunder were to then add the Nesher/Dagger, Super Etendard and Sea Harrier, we would have all of the major aircraft used during the Falklands war in the game and if a Falkland islands map were to be added I think it would be an incredible thing to see in the game.

[ZeBigLOL 3]

On 26/06/2020 at 17:33, pieve said:

yes, a future French premium on Tier-VI

Or American, there were a few in the service of the US navy

[pieve 3,578]

25 minutes ago, ZeBigLOL said:

Or American, there were a few in the service of the US navy

it may even be premium for Americans too, but it’s more likely for the French to be premium

[Trotrodor 2,670]

On 02/11/2020 at 09:40, yoyolast said:

I may make a separate post for this, but I personally feel like it would be better if we got the IAI Nesher (also called IAI Dagger in the Argentinian air force). It is true that the IAI Kfir as derivative of the Nesher that was developed in parallel to posses a different engine is a more unique plane, However the Nesher/Dagger was more historically important as it was used effectively in 2 major world conflicts being the Yom Kippur war in Israel and the Falklands war in Argentina. The IAI Kfir however never participated in these conflicts or in any major conflicts to my knowledge so I feel it should still be in the game but after the Nesher.

 

This desire to see the Nesher/Dagger in game was actually further strengthened for me when the Harriers were revealed. If war thunder were to then add the Nesher/Dagger, Super Etendard and Sea Harrier, we would have all of the major aircraft used during the Falklands war in the game and if a Falkland islands map were to be added I think it would be an incredible thing to see in the game.

I agree

 

Thats why it should be in the french tech tree in my opinion

[Z3r0_ 4,128]

 

On 02/11/2020 at 00:40, yoyolast said:

I may make a separate post for this, but I personally feel like it would be better if we got the IAI Nesher (also called IAI Dagger in the Argentinian air force). It is true that the IAI Kfir as derivative of the Nesher that was developed in parallel to posses a different engine is a more unique plane, However the Nesher/Dagger was more historically important as it was used effectively in 2 major world conflicts being the Yom Kippur war in Israel and the Falklands war in Argentina. The IAI Kfir however never participated in these conflicts or in any major conflicts to my knowledge so I feel it should still be in the game but after the Nesher.

 

This desire to see the Nesher/Dagger in game was actually further strengthened for me when the Harriers were revealed. If war thunder were to then add the Nesher/Dagger, Super Etendard and Sea Harrier, we would have all of the major aircraft used during the Falklands war in the game and if a Falkland islands map were to be added I think it would be an incredible thing to see in the game.

 

Fair enough.

Edited December 9, 2020 by Z3r0_

[Abaddon75 460]

Hi I'm here a bit 'cause of this video 
 

where the guy show a pitcure of the kfir with a M61 gatling diplayed in front, that specific one (wikipedia),

and on one of your pic we can see clearly two of these, I read your article but 'cause it's kinda late (or early) I might have missed the info did you have any list of armement used on it? I see a lot of different Bombs and some rocket pods, also would be interesting to know about the options and configurations possible. On Wikipedia (take it with caution) English we have a C2 variant armement, that seems to have the same-ish content as on your sources, with scary Mavericks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAI_Kfir

and a good surprise we can find extra info on the Spanish one where we can see a table giving different configurations, and the last one specifies a ventral canon container (I'm not a spanish speaker just recognise some words) m61 I guess https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAI_Kfir

Saddly no one talks about the twin M61 and maybe there is more idk but hopes it's somewhere in some undiscovered documents, so if this plane make it out to the game we'll have those options...

For the discuss about the TT where it should go, both French and US have good arguments and cons, so both could have it in different version, but I fear that french will end up with Nesher while US will have the Kfir...

Edited February 17, 2021 by Abaddon75

[Shin_Kazama_ 193]

So, now that the Israeli tech tree is coming, this will likely be Israel's top tier, alongside the Kurnass. Any idea on what missiles the Kfir could carry?

[yoyolast 1,710]

37 minutes ago, Shin_Kazama_ said:

So, now that the Israeli tech tree is coming, this will likely be Israel's top tier, alongside the Kurnass. Any idea on what missiles the Kfir could carry?

Depends on the variant as this plane had several. The early configuration as well as the Kfir Gderot (AKA Kfir C.1) could only carry Shafrir 2 and AIM9-D as far as I know. Starting from the C.2 variant (which also introduced the iconic canards) the plane could also carry the all-aspect Python 3 missile. The C.7 I believe could also carry Python 4 missiles (in addition to having provisions to carry more missiles at once when compared to previous Kfirs). Lastly if you look at modern export variants of the Kfir like the C.10 those can carry Israel's most advanced missiles: Python 5 and Derby.

 

In general I wouldn't hype myself up to see the Kfir added on the release of the tech tree. It would make more sense to assume the top of the Israeli tree on release would be the Mirage IIICJ and F4E Phantom II "Kurnass". That being said with the Israeli tree coming you can deffinetly assume we will see at least some of the Kfir variants added down the line.

[Shin_Kazama_ 193]

2 minutes ago, yoyolast said:

Depends on the variant as this plane had several. The early configuration as well as the Kfir Gderot (AKA Kfir C.1) could only carry Shafrir 2 and AIM9-D as far as I know. Starting from the C.2 variant (which also introduced the iconic canards) the plane could also carry the all-aspect Python 3 missile. The C.7 I believe could also carry Python 4 missiles (in addition to having provisions to carry more missiles at once when compared to previous Kfirs). Lastly if you look at modern export variants of the Kfir like the C.10 those can carry Israel's most advanced missiles: Python 5 and Derby.

 

In general I wouldn't hype myself up to see the Kfir added on the release of the tech tree. It would make more sense to assume the top of the Israeli tree on release would be the Mirage IIICJ and F4E Phantom II "Kurnass". That being said with the Israeli tree coming you can deffinetly assume we will see at least some of the Kfir variants added down the line.

I just want my dang Kfir. I'm genuinely super excited for it, as I've been waiting for it ever since I first started playing

[Sternjaeger84 1,076]

3 minutes ago, Shin_Kazama_ said:

I just want my dang Kfir. I'm genuinely super excited for it, as I've been waiting for it ever since I first started playing

Same man, as an Area 88 enjoyer!
 

 

 

[Shin_Kazama_ 193]

13 minutes ago, GISamurai said:

Same man, as an Area 88 enjoyer!
 

 

 

Oh hey, I'm good friends with the guy who made those music videos.