1/72 Jaguar GR.9 

by Rob Haelterman

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Silly Week 2006

 

Israeli Defence Force

Strike against Erak Nuclear Plant

 April 1st, 2015

 

1/144

Conversion of Academy Minicraft Jaguar and Revell Kfir C-2

 

History:

In 2007 the Jaguar was already a veteran in the RAF, that somehow escaped most budget cuts and was still performing remarkably, despite its age. When it became clear that the Eurofighter Typhoon was only going to be procured in very limited numbers (15 to be precise), the RAF found itself in crisis. It took some lobbying to persuade the MoD to push through the umpteenth upgrade of the Jaguar, but in the end was born the Jaguar GR.9, and it was the most radical declination so far. As the costs were too high for the tight British budget after all, the old Anglo-French agreement was dusted off and the SEPECAT consortium, that originally built the Jaguar, was resurrected. According to the rules of typical European compromise the design of the wing was left to the French (Dassault), while the fuselage and avionics were the responsibility of the British (BAe Systems). To cut cost as much as possible, off-the-shelf items were used, which was evident in the design of the wing, which basically was an adaptation of that of the Mirage V (or rather, the Kfir, which indicates an early involvement of IAI in the project).

The maiden flight took place in 2011 and the new design revealed itself to be an outstanding performer at low levels, and be very well suited to long range strikes, thanks to the delta wing. Early 2014, the first RAF Squadron (148 Sqn) became fully operational and a year later the Squadron had its first oversees deployment giving air support the troops in Basra. According to the rumours at that time, some Israeli pilot were trained in 148 Sqn, and there was widespread speculation that the IDF would procure the aircraft. It was never officially acknowledged, but reports surfaced that the IDF already obtained the first machines in the autumn of 2014. Numbers were estimated around 12 to 18. Strangely enough, those same aircraft were already removed from the inventory in October 2015. Some blurry photographs show that the aircraft sported a sandy brown livery on their upper surfaces during their brief stay in the Middle East, which peeled off easily, showing a mid-grey undercoat. Coincidentally this was exactly the colour used by the RAF at that time, so the theory goes that these aircraft were leased to the IDF for a brief period of time, or that a clandestine RAF-detachment operated under Israeli flag. It is a strange coincidence, to say the least, that at the end of 2014 the world got the first confirmation that Iran was working on a nuclear arsenal with which the Israeli soil could be attacked. (The words uttered by the Iranian authorities in 2005 that the Israeli state had to be obliterated were still fresh in everybody’s mind.) On April 1st , 2015 the nuclear facilities at Erak (Western-Iran) were struck by an explosion. The official cause is still unknown, but some NGO claim that it was hit by an Israeli air-strike, which was vehemently denied by Tel Aviv. We can only add that the Jaguar GR.9 would be cut for the job, if indeed this would be true.

Details of the aircraft are not known, but this model tries to depict one of them, based on data in Air Forces Monthly, April 2017.

 

The model:
Wing of Revell Kfir C-2, fuselage of Academy/Minicraft Jaguar, bombs scratchbuilt.

(It took 2nd place in the 2005 Flanders Modelling festival (Sci-Fi Category))

 

Rob

Click on images below to see larger images

Photos and text © by Rob Haelterman