Private Military Corporations (PMC) have proliferated in the post-Cold War environment, taking advantage of the privatisation and outsourcing of functions previously undertaken by governments.

Offering air combat training, called ‘Red Air’, PMC’s pits fighter pilots against adversaries using equipment and tactics similar to those employed in real combat.  

Draken International is a NATO approved PMC, using various jets, from A-4s to ex-Soviet MiG-21s. In 2017, Draken International purchased a fleet of Mach 2 interceptors called the Atlas Cheetah, a South African design, based on an Israeli design, based on a French design.

The Cheetah was a stop-gap solution that became a near-permanent one. 

Between the mid-1960s and the 1990s, South Africa was involved in the South African border war, under the Apartheid regime, and faced international sanctions with no opportunity to purchase military assets from abroad.

South Africa’s own air force was primarily composed of older British and French aircraft, with a handful of Dassault Mirage IIIs and Mirage F1s serving as main fighter jets and squared off against the Angolan army, generously supplied with Soviet MiG-23 fighters. 

The F1s were delivered between 1975 and 1977, just before the international arms embargo on South Africa went into effect. The plan was to procure more than 100, but only 48 were delivered. 

The IIIs, delivered in the early 1960s, had neither the speed, the manoeuvrability, nor adequate weaponry and electronics to combat the MiG-23s, although they performed well in ground attack duties.

Atlas Aircraft Corporation had experience in manufacturing jet aircraft, building the MB-326 on license from Italian Aermacchi. The Atlas Carver project was initiated to build a home-grown fourth-generation fighter jet that could rival competitors such as the MiG-29 and the F-16. 

With significant investment and the hiring of a number of foreign engineers, the new aircraft would be ready no earlier than the mid-1990s. Without a quick stop-gap solution, the South African Air Force would remain outmatched for nearly two decades. 

The only way forward was to upgrade one of the existing jets to a suitable level. Luckily, Mirage IIIs had a record of such upgrades. The Mirage 5, IAI Nesher and IAI Kfir were three projects that took the airframe of the Mirage III and adapted it for various needs by replacing avionics, weaponry and other components. All three were produced by Israel. 

South Africa already had a history of military collaboration with Israel, so secretly Israel assisted with work on the Mirages, producing a near-identical twin of the Israeli IAI Kfir.   

South Africa took its 1960s-vintage Mirage IIIs and replaced approximately 50% of their components.  Dog-tooth extensions on the leading wing edge were added, improving resistance to stall. Canards and strakes on the nose were added to improve low-speed handling characteristics. The nose housed new radar, and with a vastly upgraded cockpit and cutting-edge avionics the Cheetah was born. 

Three variants of the Cheetah were made: the pre-production Cheetah E, the twin-seat trainer Cheetah D, and the final Cheetah C, the latter of which became the main fighter jet of the South African Air Force. The Cheetah C also received the Mirage F1’s Atar 9K50, allowing more fuel and armaments. The Cheetah even had a helmet-mounted sight, something that some 5th generation fighter jets lack.  

Sadly, South Africa never used its Cheetahs to their full extent, being relegated to interceptor duties far away from the frontline, while combat missions continued to be performed by Mirage F1s and Blackburn Buccaneers.

Mirage IIIs were supernaturally good at the so-called one-circle dogfights, situations where, after passing each other, pilots would turn in the same direction trying to aim at the enemy faster than the enemy. The Cheetah improved on this metric.

However the Cheetah had neither very good thrust-to-weight ratio, nor range, and wasn’t as stable or as easy to fly as the Mirage F1. 

Like the Kfir, the Cheetah is a true fourth-generation jet, rivalling even newer fighters.

With the Atlas Carver project cancelled, the Cheetah remained the most modern aircraft in South Africa’s possession.

In the mid-1990s, sanctions were lifted, and the South African Air Force began shopping for a true modern fighter jet, choosing the Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen.

Cheetahs faced retirement and some were sold to Chile and Equador.  Cheetah’s stardom came in 2017. After picking up 12 of them, Draken International added its own upgrades, and they were the most advanced jets in Draken‘s inventory until 2021

Replaced by ex-Norwegian Air Force F-16s. Cheetahs became a workhorse, used in training NATO air forces’ personnel in how to deal with dissimilar opponents, performing mock combat against alliance’s newest fighters.  

So not completely gone and not completely forgotten.  

(Edited and sourced from Aerotime Hub – VALIUS VENCKUNAS)