Cheetah C: The ultimate Mirage III
"Project Tunny" was the most expensive and ambitious aircraft program ever in the history of the SAAF. There is no official starting date for this program but resulted in the SAAF being equipped with the Cheetah C - regarded as the ultimate development of the original Mirage III concept even surpassing the French Mirage III NG, which never entered production. The entire project was held in total secrecy and the project name was hardly mentioned. Another advantage was the Cheetah E being kept out of the public eye so very few people could at the time tell the difference between the single seaters. The project was still treated to total secrecy even after the aircraft entered sqdn service. However, during 1994 a single poor quality photo of the SAAF's latest fighter appeared in a Cape Town newspaper. A flood of rumours did the rounds as all the Mirage airframes were accounted for, where were the new airframes obtained? Or did South Africa develop means to build new airframes in a relatively short time?
The SAAF simply stated that a new type was in service with the SAAF as the Cheetah C. The much respected SA aerospace publication: "Aireport of 1997" stated a few years later that the main fuselage components of the Cheetah C were sourced from Israel, while the rest of the systems were locally manufactured. The radar was sourced elsewhere. Another aerospace publication stated that Israel developed an advanced Kfir powered by a 9K50 engine for the use by air forces which could not obtain the JM 79 engine. But according to the report, this project was not completed. Some suggested the Cheetah C was the highly secret Israeli Kfir 2000, but this proved untrue in the end. There where even suggestions that the Cheetah C was always the intended front-line aircraft and the Cheetah E served as an interim measure. Many believe the Cheetah E was withdrawn due to its Atar 9C-3 engine, as it failed to meet the operational requirement to power a far heavier aircraft. But the SAAF stated that the Cheetah C is so advanced that the Cheetah E was no longer required.
As the remaining Mirages were being upgraded (as part of the Cheetah D & E upgrade), 2 Sqdn effectively lost the aircraft which they were associated with for a number of decades. This resulted in the Sqn being deactivated during mid 1990, but reformed at their new home at AFB Louis Trichardt during December 1992. All Cheetah D aircraft of the disbanded 89 Combat FS were transferred to 2 Sqdn. The Cheetah Ds, although part of 2 Sqdn is a separate component within 2 Sqdn and viewed unofficially as the "Cheetah Training Flight". At the time the "training flight" was responsible for all fast jet operational training, even to types such as the Mirage F1AZ, then still in service. It is estimated the first Cheetah Cs arrived at 2 Sqdn during January 1993 and the last example of the 38 Cheetah Cs were handed over to Lt Col Cobus Toerien, then OC of 2Sqdn, during March 1995. At the same time on 4 March 1995 at AFB Langebaan, the aircraft type did both an aerial display and were displayed as a static exhibit for members of the public, as part of the 75th SAAF Anniversary air shows. The Cheetah C has only appeared twice as part of a brief aerial display before the air show at AFB Langebaan. The very professional air display caused even the most die-hard view that these aircraft were not worth much, to view the typeas an entirely different cat, which is more than capable to meet a number of advanced threats.
The Cheetah C featured basically the same aerodynamic layout as the Cheetah D, E and R. The external components have been refined to make them more streamline. The new fixed in-flight refuelling probe uses less external piping to reduce drag. The wing is more refined, with the midway fences being deleted, but the dogtooth was retained. However, the biggest advantage of the Cheetah C, is the use of the Atar 9K50 engine as used in the Mirage F1 types and some later Mirage III types. Atlas had a production licence for this engine and optimised the engine with advanced components over the years, to provide the Cheetah C with a significant increase in performance. A new larger sized nose section is used. The new nose houses an entirely new and more modern radar, which is said to be more capable than the radars as fitted to current F16s. This capability would make it an advanced pulse Doppler multi mode unit. The SAAF acknowledged that the radar was sourced elsewhere. Even more modern avionics and navigation/attack systems were fitted to the aircraft, all with in-flight update capability. The avionics and navigation/attack systems are regarded to be more capable than the systems as fitted to current F16s. Most of these systems are housed in a new plug of about 58cm between the cockpit and engine intakes. As the cockpit is further forward, the spine is naturally longer with a slight hump just forward of the tail fin.
The already impressive EW suite were upgraded with even more modern equipment, to make it one of the most advanced EW suites ever fitted to fighter aircraft of any generation. The cockpit received an oversized HUD of the latest type. An oversized HUD is another component regarded as essential for future fighter aircraft and this was already in service with the SAAF since the mid 90s. The cockpit was also upgraded, but remains on the classified list to this day and no details or photos may be published. A more modern HOTAS system with an advanced helmet mounted sight are incorporated into the aircraft. It is said that a number of advanced features help the pilot to visualise the tactical situation and aid him to make better decisions to cope with immediate threats.
It is extremely odd that the latest Cheetah C used an earlier ejection seat, the Martin Baker Mk 6 while the Cheetah D & E uses the advanced Mk10. Reason for this phenomenon and why the seat was not replaced with a more modern unit, is unknown. Although the Mk6 is more advanced as the Mirage III seats, it still features the head rest ejection handles in addition to the seat-pan firing handle. The front windscreen features a single glass wrap around windscreen without the use of frames. Better optical quality is achieved with the use of space age materials, while at the same time offer better immunity to bird strikes. The cockpit coaming has been lowered and with the single front windscreen significantly increase the pilot's forward vision. The main undercarriage was upgraded with new units to increase the maximum take off weight. This needed new undercarriage main doors different in shape to the Mirage III or the Cheetah D & E. The Cheetah C is a pilot's delight and offers significant performance in a modern fighter package. All the Cs were constantly refined over the years and the latest addition is a special anti radiation coating on the canopy windscreen.
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