Aircraft of the Aces 059 - Israeli Mirage III and Nesher Aces (2004).pdf

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OSPREY AIRCRAF T OF THE ACES

• 59

Israeli Mirage

and Nesher Aces

Shlomo Aloni

SERIES EDITOR: TONY HOLMES

OSPREY AIRCRAF T OF THE ACES

• 59

Israeli Mirage

and Nesher Aces

Shlomo Aloni

SPREY

PUBLISHING

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

MACH ONE AIR WARFARE 6

CHAPTER TWO

SIX DAY WAR 33

CHAPTER THREE

ATTRITION 44

CHAPTER FOUR

THE SOVIETS INTERVENE 57

CHAPTER FIVE

YOM KIPPUR WAR 66

EPILOGUE 79

APPENDICES 81

C O L O U R P L AT E S C O M M E N TA R Y 8 9

INDEX 96

MACH 2 AIR

WARFARE

CHAPTER ONE

f results achieved in air-to-air combat are the leading criterion, then the

French Dassault Mirage III family probably ranks top among the first

generation of Mach 2 fighters. It was one of ten such types flown for the

first time from 1954 by the five nations which were capable of producing

such technologically advanced military hardware – France, Sweden, UK,

USA and USSR.

Under the circumstances, the French achievement is of special interest

because the Mirage was not actually the most capable fighter of its kind.

Moreover, it was not the first Mach 2 fighter to fly, nor was it the first to

enter operational service. And from a technological standpoint, the

Mirage III was not as innovative as competitors like the F-104 Starfighter

with its thin wing, the F-106 Delta Dart, which preceded the Mirage, the

MiG-21, which combined a delta wing with a horizontal stabiliser, the

Saab 35 Draken, with its double delta wing, and the English Electric

Lightning, with its highly swept wing and unique engine installation.

The Mirage III family did not incorporate breathtaking technology

either. The SNECMA Atar 9B-3 turbojet was less powerful than

equivalent US powerplants, while the advanced weapon system concept

introduced by US fighters was years ahead of anything in the Mirage.

Nevertheless, the French fighter was certainly a sales success, although

fewer were produced than the MiG-21, the F-104 or the F-4 Phantom II.

Even more amazing is the fact that most of the Mirage’s air-to-air kills

were claimed by a single customer – an air force which operated less

than ten per cent of Mirage III family production. In fact it was the

overwhelming operational success of the Israeli Defence Force/Air Force

(IDF/AF) which boosted the French delta fighter’s commercial success.

Export sales more than doubled after the astonishing achievements of

IDF/AF Mirages during the Six Day War of June 1967.

Mirage III acquisition was an inevitable development in IDF/AF

history. Following Israel’s purchase of Dassault’s Ouragan in 1955,

the Mystere in 1956 and the Super Mystere in 1958, the close links

between France and Israel made procurement of the Mirage III a logical

consequence. Israel signed its first Mirage IIIC purchase contract in May

1960, and this covered the supply of 24 aircraft, with an option on a

further 36. A second contract covering another 24 Mirage IIICs was

signed in April 1961, and this was followed by a third, also for 24 Mirage

IIICs. Delivery of three Mirage IIIB two-seaters in 1966 and a fourth in

1968 brought the total Israeli purchase to 76.

Although the acquisition of the Mirage came as no great surprise in light

of the special diplomatic relationship between France and Israel at that

time, the IDF/AF’s insistence that the Mirage III interceptor should be

turned into a fighter-bomber was controversial. Like most first generation

IDF/AF chief test pilot Danny

Shapira (left) was the first Israeli

to fly a Mirage III. In June 1959 he

demonstrated the new Mach 2

wonder to IDF/AF commander in

chief, Maj Gen Ezer Weizman (right).

Shapira became only the 12th pilot

to achieve Mach 2 in Mirage IIIA03

during the course of the

demonstration flight

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