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The Israel Aircraft Industries Nesher (Hebrew: נשר, 'griffon vulture', also translated to 'eagle') was the Israeli version of the French Dassault Mirage 5 multirole fighter. [ 1 ]
The Nesher was followed by the IAI Kfir ("lion cub"), which was developed as a result of Israel's need for adapting the Dassault Mirage III to the specific requirements of the Israeli Air Force. The Kfir entered service with the IAF in 1975, the first units being assigned to the 101st "First Fighter" Squadron .
The squadron was established in 1972 at the Etzion Airbase of the IAF, in the northeast Sinai, not far from the Gulf of Aqaba.The first planes that were taken in by the "Guardians of the Arava" squadron were IAI Nesher planes which was the first fighter plane produced by IAI according to the plans of the French Dassault Mirage 5.
The Mirage 5 grew out of a request to Dassault from the Israeli Air Force.Since the weather over the Middle East is clear and sunny most of the time, the Israelis suggested removing the air intercept radar and its avionics, normally located behind the cockpit, from the standard Mirage IIIE to reduce cost and maintenance, and replacing them with more fuel storage for attack missions.
The Kfir programme originated in the quest to develop a more capable version of the IAI Nesher, which was already in series production. After General De Gaulle embargoed the sale of arms to Israel, the IAF feared that it might lose qualitative superiority over its adversaries in the future, which were receiving increasingly advanced Soviet ...
The programme integrated technology from the Israeli-built IAI Kfir, [2] 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 .
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The 254 Squadron badge was a stylized bird over the outline of Israel's coastline. Its Kfirs wore the standard four-tone camouflague used by all IAF delta-winged fighters at the time, though usually without the black identifications triangles common on the Mirages and IAI Neshers. They also carried serials in the 700 range, which were applied ...