IAI Nesher of the Israeli air force (IAF), also known as Dagger in the Argentine air force (FAA) - A domestically produced legendary copy

[yoyolast 1,708]

 

 

 

 

 

IAI NESHER

Introduction

The IAI Nesher (translated to "Vulture", often mistranslated as "Eagle"), also known as the Dagger, Was Israel's first domestically produced combat aircraft. It was an aircraft born from complicated relations with Israel's main supplier of jet fighters during the late 1960s, that had become the initiator of Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) as a major aviation manufacturer. This legendary multirole jet fighter/bomber took part in 2 major globally renowned conflicts: The Yom Kippur war of October 1973 and the Falklands war of April 1982, where it proved to be a historic piece of military aviation for both the IAF and the Argentine air force (FAA).

 

 

Origins

In 1966 Israel was the main client of the French military aviation industry and, as a result, when the Israeli government was looking to expand the strength of the IAF they turned to the French Dassault aviation. The Israelis requested a new jet fighter that would be based on the Mirage IIIE, which would be better suited for the air-ground role and serve as a multirole jet fighter/bomber. This began the contract for Dassault to produce a brand new Mirage jet fighter - the Dassault Mirage V. The plane would have adjustments to the airframe, making it 30cm longer. Also notable is the removal of some of the avionics and the aircraft's radar at the request of the Israelis due to weather in the middle east being relatively clear, which resulted in a slender sharper nose which was about 50cm longer than the Mirage IIIE. Additionally, the fuel capacity has been increased by adding a fuel tank and enlarging another which resulted in an added capacity of 500 liters (about 1,000 lbs.). Finally, the changes resulted in an overall decrease of 450kgs of empty weight, which allowed the addition of 2 more pylons on the aircraft, increasing the payload the aircraft could carry to about 4,000kgs (8,800 lbs.). The development of the aircraft was going very well with Israel ordering and paying for over 50 of the brand new Mirage, and it even made it's maiden flight on the 19th of May 1967, however this joint endeavor would not last long. In June of 1967 the infamous Six day war broke out and resulted in an overwhelming Israeli victory against Egypt, Syria and the kingdom of Jordan. Following these developments, the French government led by president Charles De Gaulle declared an arms embargo on Israel, preventing the order of the Mirage Vs to be completed.

The story past this point changes with various sources scattered about, so I will try my best to summarize the facts led by my sources as to what most likely happened:

After the embargo was declared Israel found itself in a very troublesome situation. Not only did the embargo prevent them from getting the new planes that were made at their request, The Six day war also took a toll on the IAF's aircraft as over 50 of them were destroyed and needed replacing. As a result, the predecessor of the IAI called "Bedek Matussim" , after campaigning to be put to the task, were tasked with the most ambitious project attempted by the military aviation industry at that time - producing an indigenous aircraft that would be copied from the desired Mirage V and take it's place in the IAF. This laid the foundations for the projects which would be later known as the Nesher and it's successor the Kfir. At this point the sources diverge greatly, some sources say the Israelis had the blueprints and produced the aircraft completely by itself, some sources which were the main ones I used (as they seemed more reliable) claim that Israel stole some of the blueprints using espionage (specifically the blueprints for the Atar engine produced by SNECMA for the French Mirage jets) and was then aided by Dassault despite the embargo, with dismantled airframes of the planes being shipped to Israel and IAI being granted a license to produce the Nesher although the latter is heavily debated with many sources claiming Israel built the Nesher with no official license to do so. additionally some sources claim the Neshers were actually built in the US for Israel however according to my sources that was not the case. in summary, regardless of what actually ended up happening at the time, in the end projects Ra'am A and Ra'am B were underway and in late 1969 Ra'am A made it's successful maiden flight and the project was finished in early 1971 as the project was officially renamed the Nesher and started it's integration into the IAF in May of 1971. Meanwhile in 1972 the French government decided to buy the Mirage Vs that were made for Israel and gave them to the French air force designated as the Dassault Mirage VF.

 

https://youtu.be/LOKwZiUh4JY

 

A video of the handing of the Neshers to the IAF

 

 

 

Service in the IAF

In all, 51 single seat Neshers were handed to the IAF during it's production period between May 1971 and February 1974 as well as a total of 10 two seat trainers. The Nesher was used in 5 IAF squadrons (the 101 first fighter squadron, the first jet squadron, the Guard of the Arava squadron, the Hornet squadron and the Negev squadron)  and saw the peak of it's service culminate in the Yom Kippur war of October 1973. One of the more interesting details of the aircraft in it's service with the IAF was the bold color scheme which included three big orange triangles. I could not find an official source explaining this choice, however it is widely believed that the reason was many countries used delta-winged fighters at the time, including some of Israel's enemies who had access to planes such as the Mirage and the MIG-21, and that because of this fact the decals were used to help distinguish friendly aircraft from the enemy and avoid friendly fire. Another noteworthy fact is that this was one of the aircraft in the IAF which were flown by Giyora Epstein which was renowned for being one of the top jet aces in the world. In the Yom Kippur war itself the Neshers have proved their worth not only in their designated role as ground attackers, but also as very capable fighter jets despite the fact that they were slightly less maneuverable than the Mirage III. Numerous missions were carried out by the Neshers during the war where they downed many Egyptian and Syrian jets, with Giyora Epstein claiming at least 11 kills! (The total record says 12 but that does not match with the detailed record). However, after the Yom Kippur war the Ra'am B program which would become the IAI Kfir was in it's finishing stages and the Neshers were completely phased out of service in the IAF and later refurbished and sold in 1978 to Argentina, designated with the name IAI Dagger which the Argentinians simply named the Mirage V Dagger.

 

https://youtu.be/ZGEXz90XIgc

 

In this video (which is one of the main sources I used) is a pretty expansive coverage of one Giyora Epstein's

incredible dogfights in the Yom Kippur war starting in around 22 and continuing until the end of the video.

This video was a part of the History channel's "Dogfights" series, and the battle itself was described

by Giyora in person in this episode.

 

Service in the FAA

In 1976, the Argentine air force (FAA) was looking to replace it's dated jet fighters due to it's relations with the nation of Chile deteriorating. At the time they could not complete their order of American A4 Skyhawks with only 25 A4Cs being delivered before the US declared an arms embargo. As 1977 came along tensions were rising and Argentina was running out of options, their request for Mirage Vs from France was discarded as the factory argued it could not complete the order in the given time frame. In the end Argentina turned to Israel in order to attempt to receive the IAI Kfir. However, the Argentinians had issues with acquiring this aircraft as the Kfir's engine was the American General Electric J79 which would pose an obstacle due to their bad relations with the US. In the end the Israelis made an offer that was practically given to Argentina on a silver platter: Because Israel was putting the IAI Kfir into it's ranks and retiring the IAI Nesher, they had a surplus of aircraft comparable to the Dassault Mirage V that had the French SNECMA Atar engine available to sell immediately. Throughout 1978 delegations of Argentinians went to Israel to verify the condition of the Neshers and to train pilots to fly them. These visits were made in upmost secrecy as the IAI Nesher was still highly classified at the time and would continue to be so until 1982. In the end the aircraft were refurbished with new avionics for the FAA and the plane was renamed the Dagger with the promise that by 1982 they would be upgraded to the IAI Kfir C.2 standard (which did happen later than that and those planes were renamed Fingers) but in essence at the time the Dagger was the IAI Nesher.

 

 

However the Israelis could not keep their promise of upgrading the Daggers by 1982. That same year in April Argentina invaded the Falkland islands and so a war with the UK had begun. The Daggers of course took part in the war, further assisted by Israel with Shafrir 2 air to air missiles being supplied for use with the Daggers. In addition, the fact that the Mirage V/Nesher/Dagger had a larger combat range than the Mirage III allowed the Daggers to do bombing runs on the Royal navy while taking off from the mainland. In reality however, other than the infamous Super Etendard and it's Exocet missiles doing significant damage to the Royal navy, Argentina failed to match the skill of the British pilots in their Hawker Harriers and were also not very effective in their bombing runs. It is notable however that the Daggers were used in a raid on the British landing site which was nicknamed "Bomb Alley" where they have managed some successes, the most notable of which was a flight of 3 Daggers that badly damaged HMS Ardent which then, to make matters worse, was hit by an additional 2 bombs from Argentinian Skyhawks which ultimately sunk the frigate.

 

http://youtu.be/wsDodFQPeJ0

 

A video filmed during the raid in Bomb Alley.

You can clearly see both Skyhawks and Daggers

fighting the British naval forces.

 

In total Argentina lost 11 Daggers in the war and with it's replacement as promised by Israel to the plane known as the Finger, It marked the end of operations for the Nesher.

 

 

 

 

IAI NESHER SPECS:

General data:

Type: Day fighter and ground attacker                                       

Powerplant: A single Snecma Atar 9C turbojet engine            

                                  rated at 9,370lbs dry and 14,110lbs with max afterburner

Wing span: 8.22m                                                                     

Length: 15.56m                                                                        

Height: 4.50m                                                                           

Wing area: 34.80m^2                                                                

Weights: Empty weight - 6,600kg ; Max takeoff - 13,500kg      

Performance:

Max speed at sea level: 1,390km/h                                          

Max speed at maximum altitude: Mach 2.2                            

Climb rate: 186m/s                                                                    

Max altitude: 18,000m                                                              

Combat range: 1,250km with a pair of 400kg bombs               

and external fuel tanks          

Armament:

Guns: Two 30mm DEFA 5-52A with 125 rounds each              

Missiles: two Shafrir 2 missiles or two AIM9D sidewinders      

Hardpoints/bomb load: 6 underwing and one under-fuselage

                                                        pylons able to carry up to 4,000kg of ordinance

 

Potential in War Thunder

As mentioned in this post, the Nesher was overall a slightly modified version of the Mirage III which is currently in the game. if the Mirage VF were ever to be added it would be practically identical to it as the only differences between the planes (other than the country in which it was produced) were different avionics, different ejection seat and different air to air missiles (Shafrir 2). Overall the plane would perform slightly worse than the Mirage III in the air combat role, being slightly less maneuverable, but would still be a very capable jet fighter overall. Where this plane would really shine is in it's ability to carry a significant payload unlike the Mirage III which has very light payload options. This would mean that in ground RB this plane would be an overall better option over having the Mirage III in a lineup since it could effectively take out ground targets while also being capable enough to perform an air-defense role if the situation calls for it.

 

 

Sources

http://www.iaflibrary.org.il/Product.asp?ProdID=1067 - Book by Amos Dor from 2000. Press the button in the middle in the site for the pdf file of the book, fully readable in English and explaining the history of the aircraft's production and time in the IAF in detail.

https://youtu.be/ZGEXz90XIgc - The History channel's Dogfights season 2 episode 06 "Desert Aces" featuring a brief explanation about the Nesher's past as well as commentary by Giyora Epstein on the plane itself and an incredible animated dogfight between Israeli Neshers and Egyptian MIG-21s. It is also available for physical purchase on amazon if you worry about copyrights: https://www.amazon.com/History-Dogfights-Desert-Aces/dp/B002KBES3M.

http://www.kagero.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=463:mirageiiiiainesherdagger&catid=95&Itemid=688&limitstart=0 - First 3 pages of a book by Salvador Mafe Huertas describing in detail the acquisition and implementation of the IAI Nesher in Argentina as the Dagger.

https://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/air-war-in-the-falklands-32214512/ - An article describing the air combat during the Falklands war including many Dagger encounters one of which is the Bomb Alley raid.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/argentine-air-force-dagger-fighters-severely-damaged-hms-ardent-falklands-war/ - A second article confirming the events of the Bomb Alley raid.

Edited November 9, 2020 by yoyolast
Slight adjustments

[leroyonly 4,310]

Open for discussion. 

[RoofKnocker 1]

Great post I hope to see this wonderful aircraft in the game one day. It will make a nice opponent to the mig21bis.

[Nodetz_Nedatzim 1]

Great plane! I think it should be added, and after this one, the Kfir too

[Borotovas 4,500]

+1

 

This should come into WT, and then an Arab tech tree to oppose the Israeli tech tree.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Borotovas

[OsO73 491]

Amazing work!!!!

The Dagger/Finger can be found on the "Argentine Air Tech tree" suggestion ! 

 

[yoyolast 1,708]

9 hours ago, OsO73 said:

Amazing work!!!!

The Dagger/Finger can be found on the "Argentine Air Tech tree" suggestion ! 

 

Yeah I am aware of that post, and I fully support an Argentine aviation tree in the game, however I believe the Dagger should be included as the IAI Nesher under the French tree or a (not so likely) Israeli tree because this aircraft was made in Israel and only later sold to Argentina. The Finger is a completely different aircraft that should probably be discussed in a different topic. either way I think we can both agree the Nesher/Dagger would be awesome to have in the game!

[Capt_JamesTKirk 1,710]

+1 French premium, would be nice to have something that actually can do something more than bomb/cas.

Vautour IIA IDF at 9.0 just is not effective in air to air combat. 

Tho -1 as research, there are plenty of French aircraft for the tree. And a good fighter prem is needed, and it would be best if it was something that shouldnt be in main tree.

Edited November 6, 2020 by ProPatriaFinland

[yoyolast 1,708]

Due to some bug while editing the post to add another short segment everything went off-center and the fonts were reset. I am very sorry if it makes it difficult for anyone to read the post and I will try to fix this as quickly as possible.

 

EDIT: It seems to be stuck this way no matter how many times I try to edit the post, once again I am very sorry but I hope you will still continue to support it and the suggestion of the IAI Nesher to be added to War Thunder.

Edited November 8, 2020 by yoyolast

[Milocat 4,854]

+1 for the new Israeli tree.

[Z3r0_ 4,128]

iirc the Nesher's cannons are tilted down at a shallow angle for strafing ground targets.  This means you'll have to lead your targets more in dogfights.

[yoyolast 1,708]

1 hour ago, Z3r0_ said:

iirc the Nesher's cannons are tilted down at a shallow angle for strafing ground targets.  This means you'll have to lead your targets more in dogfights.

I haven't seen any evidence that suggests it was tilted this way, in fact I highly doubt it because it was a fighter-bomber and not a 100% dedicated ground attack platform.

[Nicholas_Concu 2,634]

+1 for the Israeli TT. 

[Z3r0_ 4,128]

On 11/11/2021 at 15:34, yoyolast said:

I haven't seen any evidence that suggests it was tilted this way, in fact I highly doubt it because it was a fighter-bomber and not a 100% dedicated ground attack platform.

 

It was more like a strike fighter, and yes, there is a difference.  A fighter-bomber is a fighter first and a bomber second, a strike fighter is an attacker first and a fighter second.

[yoyolast 1,708]

Just now, Z3r0_ said:

 

It was more like a strike fighter

It really wasn't, in fact it was used quite frequently as a fighter. Again, if you have validated proof of the guns being tilted that's a different story, but if there's no proof of that it's not really a discussion topic worth talking about. I'm not trying to sound angsty or angry or anything about this (in fact I'm quite happy that you find this plane intriguing) but these sort of claims shouldn't just be "assumed"  if you understand what I mean.

[OsO73 491]

6 hours ago, yoyolast said:

It really wasn't, in fact it was used quite frequently as a fighter. Again, if you have validated proof of the guns being tilted that's a different story, but if there's no proof of that it's not really a discussion topic worth talking about. I'm not trying to sound angsty or angry or anything about this (in fact I'm quite happy that you find this plane intriguing) but these sort of claims shouldn't just be "assumed"  if you understand what I mean.

A lot of the changes were to make it more "usable" on the attack role, thats kinda the reason behind the creation of the Mirage V (that flew years before the Nesher). It was intended to do both attack and interception, thus why the additional bomb racks in the back and the changing center of gravity (fuel tanks) to make it a better Dogfighter. 

[yoyolast 1,708]

 

Absolutely gorgeous. Still hard to take in that after a whole year this suggestion had been around we see this in a trailer. Thank you to everyone who supported this suggestion, I truly appreciate it 

[leroyonly 4,310]

As the Nesher has been implemented with update 2.13 Winged Lions,

 

Moved to Implemented Suggestions.