Cheetah
The Cheetah C fighter jet was built on the frame of the Mirage III South Africa bought from France in the 1960s. An arms embargo against the apartheid regime from 1977 to 1994 meant the French fighter could not be replaced. As an alternative, local experts started upgrading the Mirage's weapon systems and avionics by the mid-1980s, and the Cheetah was born. The Cheetah programme to upgrade the South African Air Force's (SAAF) fleet of Dassault Mirage III supersonic fighters was started in 1984, by the then Atlas Aviation (now Denel Aerospace). (Previously, from 1975, Atlas had assembled some of the SAAF's Mirage IIIs as well as its Mirage F1s.) At that time, South Africa operated Mirage IIICZ (Z being the suffix indicating that the aircraft were manufactured for the SAAF), IIIBZ, IIIDZ, IIID2Z, IIIE, IIIRZ and IIIR2Z versions.
Externally, the Cheetah differs from the original Mirage III by having a longer nose, canard foreplanes (to improve manoeuvreability), dog-toothed leading edges to the wings, and an in-flight refuelling probe. The Cheetah C is further distinguished by a refined and improved nose profile, a redesigned and repositioned in-flight refuelling probe (on the C-model it is above and behind the cockpit, on the starboard side), and a single-piece curving windscreen in place of the original three-segment windscreen.
It has been alleged that some Israeli assistance was involved in the Cheetah programme, something the SAAF will neither confirm nor deny. However, considering the close ties between South Africa and Israel at the time, especially in the sphere of military research, it can be assumed that at least some of the components were sourced from Israel. However, despite some rumours, the Cheetah is not the Kfir 2000, and aside from a few elements sourced from Israel, the upgrade was entirely South African. There is no evidence of direct Israeli assistance in the upgrade.
Initially, all Cheetah aircraft types were regarded as outright failures. But as more detail became available with the very professional air shows during 1995 and the efforts of "Spotty" [a specially painted display aircraft], public opinion changed virtually overnight. The successful Cheetah program was an impressive achievement by the South African aviation industry.
It is to be replaced by the end of the decade by the multi-role Gripen fighter aircraft, purchased under South Africa's multi-billion rand arms deal. The new jet is produced under a joint venture by Saab of Sweden and the British manufacturer BAE Systems.
Because of earlier international embargoes, the South African Air Force (SAAF) had been obliged to implement expensive measures to extend the lives of its existing aircraft. The Cheetah fighter aircraft is an excellent example of how South Africa successfully used its resources to develop
the technology to extend the use of its Mirage III fighter aircraft by 20 years.
