Атлас Чиита: Южноафриканский истребитель

South African fighter aircraft

The Atlas Cheetah is a South African fighter aircraft designed and produced by the aviation company Atlas Aircraft Corporation (later Denel Aeronautics). It was developed at the behest of, and principally operated by, the South African Air Force (SAAF). The Cheetah was developed amid the Border War of the 1980s as a major upgrade of the French built Dassault Mirage III fleet operated by the SAAF. The programme integrated technology from the Israeli built IAI Kfir, which had been derived from the Mirage 5/IAI Nesher. The upgrade programme, which was known as Project Cushion, produced three variants; the two seat Cheetah D, the single seat Cheetah E, and the single seat Cheetah C. All three models were inducted into the SAAF, functioning for a time as the service's most capable fighter and strike aircraft. A single Cheetah R, intended for aerial reconnaissance, was built as a prototype, but this variant never entered service. During 1992, the Cheetah E model was withdrawn from SAAF service; both the Cheetah Cs and Cheetah Ds were retired during April 2008, having been being replaced by the Swedish built Saab Gripen. Since its retirement by the SAAF, a limited number have still operated in South Africa as flight test aircraft. Some have been exported, such as to the Ecuadorian Air Force (EAF) as a source of spare parts. The privately owned company Draken International intends to use the Cheetah as an adversarial aircraft for combat training services in the United States.

The Atlas Cheetah programme originated during the 1980s out of South Africa's requirement for more capable fighter and strike aircraft. At the time, the South African Air Force (SAAF) was confronted by the need for more advanced aircraft to attain an edge over the ever more sophisticated Soviet built aircraft, such as the MiG 23, that were being supplied to both Angolan and Cuban forces. These aircraft were being deployed against South Africa's own military during the lengthy conflict commonly known as the Border War. Furthermore, the increasing cost of maintenance due to international sanctions and the increasing age of existing aircraft in the SAAF's inventory also needed to be addressed. As a consequence of the arms embargo being imposed at the time under United Nations Security Council Resolution 418, South Africa was prevented from purchasing new aircraft from almost any other country in the world; accordingly, the upgrading of existing aircraft became the only viable option available.

By the 1980s, the South African aviation industry had attained the level of technical capability to make a large and sophisticated upgrade possible. These factors contributed to the SAAF making the decision to authorise an extensive upgrade programme involving one of the existing types in service. Furthermore, the development of an advanced indigenously developed fighter, known as the Atlas Carver, was also initiated around the same time. During the 1980s, the SAAF's fast jet fleet consisted of multiple variants of the French built Dassault Mirage III (EZ/CZ/BZ/DZ/D2Z/RZ/R2Z) and Mirage F1 (AZ/CZ) aircraft. Although the Mirage F1 was considered to be the most modern aircraft type in the fleet, deliveries having commenced during 1977, the type comprised the primary element of South Africa's air defence and strike fleet. Withdrawing the Mirage F1 to perform an extensive upgrade would have necessitated opening a major gap in that nation's air defence and strike capability, which was deemed to be unacceptable by senior SAAF officials. foreign aviation company Israel Aircraft Industries had been involved in at least the initial stages of the upgrade, and that some components were sourced directly from Israel. IAI themselves have acknowledged their involvement in the joint development of related projects, such as an active radar development programme. According to ACIG, a total of five IAI Nesher fighters may have been acquired from the Israeli Air Force for Cheetah trials and later absorbed into the existing fleet.

The upgrade consisted of a complete refurbishment of the airframe down to zero flight hours condition; to achieve this, roughly 50% of the original airframe was reportedly replaced, according to statements made by Atlas. Aerodynamic changes included the installation of non moving canards just aft of the engine intakes, the Cheetah D & E models were fitted with slightly smaller (70%) canards than that of the Cheetah C and IAI Kfir. In terms of its electronics and systems, the Cheetah was provisioned with new avionics, radar set, electronic warfare (EW) and self protection suites. As many of these were accommodated within the nose, this necessitated its lengthening to provide more internal space. The EW suite incorporated a missile approach warning system and radar warning receivers, while the aircraft's self protection system, which consisted of electronic jammers and chaff/flare dispensers that were automatically activated. An indigenously developed helmet mounted sight (HMS) and an oversized head up display (HUD) were also installed in the cockpit, along with other sophisticated cockpit instrumentation. The upgrade involved the fitting of a new and capable Pulse Doppler radar system. While both the Cheetah D and the Cheetah E were still equipped with the SNECMA Atar 9C turbojet engine, the Cheetah C used the more powerful Atar 9K50.

On 16 July 1986, the first Cheetah D was publicly unveiled although a number of Cheetah Ds had already entered service with 89 Combat Flying School at AFB Pietersburg. During 1987, the Cheetah D was declared to be operational with the SAAF. The second and third aircraft to be delivered to Atlas were both Mirage IIIEZs, following their conversion of the Cheetah E configuration, these aircraft went into service with 5 Squadron at AFB Louis Trichardt. Early experiences with the Cheetah found it to be markedly more difficult to successfully perform in flight refuelling than the Mirage F1 fleet. While the type had been developed in response to the increasing pressure of the Border War, there is no evidence that any Cheetahs of any variant actually conducted offensive operations in the final years of the conflict. The type continued to be used during the post Apartheid peacetime, but became increasingly obsolete in comparison to international fighter aircraft over the course of two decades. The Cheetah was eventually withdrawn from SAAF service during the 2000s in favour of newly procured Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripens, which has succeeded the Cheetah as the service's principal fast jet fighter. Retired Cheetahs were typically stored rather than scrapped, and during 2003, South Africa began seeing buyers for these surplus aircraft. Accordingly, the Cheetah has been exported to various customers. In South America, Ecuador decided to acquire the type. During late 2017, it was announced that a privately owned company, Draken International, had made a deal with Denel Aviation to procure much of the ex SAAF fleet; the company reportedly intended to use the Cheetah as an aggressor aircraft for dissimilar combat training services for customers in the United States.

The Cheetah C was the final development in the Cheetah series and was the only fighter aircraft in service with the SAAF until replaced by the Swedish built Saab JAS 39 Gripen during 2008. Like the Cheetah D, the Cheetah C was capable of delivering precision guided munitions (PGMs), ranging from laser guided bombs (LGBs), to GPS guided weapons and TV guided bombs. It also had the capability of using stand off air to ground weapons such as the MUPSOW and TORGOS. In addition, it was able to carry a wide range of air to air weapons including the V4 R Darter radar guided missile and the A Darter infrared (IR) guided missile.

The Cheetah D was the sole two seater variant, and was predominantly used as a trainer for pilots converting to the Cheetah C. It also had a secondary attack capability, including the ability to deliver PGMs. Under Project Recipient, 10 Cheetah Ds were re engined with the Atar 09K50C 11, replacing their original Atar 09C engines. After the engine modification, the remaining aircraft received an avionics upgrade to bring them to the same standard as the Cheetah C. The original three piece front windshield was also replaced with a one piece wraparound version. Cheetah D No.845 was based at the Test Flight and Development Centre (TFDC) as a systems testing aircraft and used in the development of the Denel Dynamics MUPSOW stand off weapon. Denel used two Cheetah Ds for testing (844 and 847). The former was Denel's standard systems testing aircraft, while the latter was used in the evaluation of the SMR 95 engine, a development of the Soviet built Klimov RD 33. The performance increase offered by the Russian engine was impressive, but a combination of budget cuts and problems with the aircraft's centre of gravity contributed to the program's termination. These aircraft were retired from service in 2008, as the first Saab JAS 39D Gripen began to be delivered to the SAAF.

The single seater Cheetah E was developed as an interim fighter for use in the period before the Cheetah Cs became operational. It was fitted with a comparatively simple avionics suite and radar and retained the Atar 9C 3 engine. Its typical mission was as a standby interceptor, whereby a minimum of two aircraft armed with two V3B (later V3C) missiles, would be on permanent alert status in case of an attack from the north. All aircraft were placed into storage with the final example (No.842) painted in a non standard camouflage scheme and used for systems testing. No.842 is currently with the SAAF Museum, and is stored at AFB Swartkop. In 2003, Chile purchased five of the mothballed aircraft (Numbers 819, 820, 827, 832 and 833) and indicated its desire to purchase seven more aircraft (numbers 822, 823, 825, 828, 829, 831 and 834) subject to the agreement of a suitable purchase price. The Chilean Air Force (FACh) used the Cheetah E airframes as a source of spares for its similar ENAER Pantera aircraft until these planes were retired in late 2006.