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After its stunning victory in the 1967 Six Day War, Israel found itself with a lack of friends in the West, most importantly the French.
It was the French who had been Israel’s main supplier of modern weapons, notably the Dassault fighters, including the Mirage III.
In response to a 1966 Israeli request, Dassault had developed a ground-attack version of the Mirage III – the Mirage V – for the Israeli air force, but the French arms embargo prevented its delivery. With the help of Dassault and an underground network of sympathizers, the Israelis were able to obtain a full set of plans for the Mirage V and its Altar 09C engine.
These plans were turned over to Israel Aircraft Industries, which soon produced an almost exact copy called the Nesher, which means eagle in Hebrew. While the Nesher had greater range than the Mirage III, it was heavier and not particularly well-liked by Israeli pilots, though it was destined to roll up an impressive number of kills.
About this time, the United States had become Israel’s main weapons supplier, and at the same time the IAF began receiving Neshers, they also began to receive American F-4E Phantoms, powered by the J-79 engine, so Nesher production was halted.
As the Nesher production ended, IAI began to look for a new project. Their engineers found that the J-79 could fit in the engine bay of the Nesher, with some modifications to both the airframe and the engine.
Thus was born the Kfir, which means lion cub in Hebrew, a Nesher powered by a J-79 engine. The project was not insignificant, mainly because of engine-cooling problems, which required larger air intakes, including a new one at the base of the vertical tail and a titanium engine heat shroud.
The Kfir made its first flight in September 1971, but these problems meant it did not become part of the IAF’s fleet until 1975.
The IAF planned on using the Kfir mainly as an attack aircraft. While the engine testing was taking place, various Israeli electronic companies set about filling the front of the Kfir with a suite of advanced avionics for this mission, and when the Kfir entered service, it was probably the most advanced air-to-ground fighter in the world.
The first production Kfir rolled out of IAI on Israeli independence day in 1975. At the dedication ceremony, a former commander of the IAF, Ezer Weizman, told foreign attaches it was “the perfect combination – French body, American engine, and a Jewish nose.”
For maximum impact, the first Kfir C.1s were sent to the IAF’s oldest and most prestigious squadron, 101 Squadron, and in the end they equipped three IAF squadrons.
IAI made continuing improvement in the Kfir. The major change was the C.2, which added distinctive canards on the air intakes and a sawtooth wing for better slow-speed performance. This was followed by the C.7 in 1983, which had several more weapons pylons, a more powerful J-79 engine and beefed up landing gear for the heavier weight.
IAI also produced a two-seat trainer version, the TC.2, an aircraft with a very long, lowered nose to give the instructor in the back seat an adequate view for landing.
While much ado was made of the Kfir by the Israeli government and IAI, it was a disappointment in some ways. Israeli pilots viewed it as a distinctly second-rate aircraft, especially compared to the F-15s and F-16s that were coming into the IAF inventory. While its avionics were excellent, it carried a relatively light bomb load, had short range and its increased weight made in less maneuverable in a dogfight.
IAI had hoped to sell the Kfir to a large number of foreign countries, but because it had an American engine, the U.S. State Department had to approve all sales. Despite strong political pressure, the United States proved very stingy with its approval.
In the end, only Sri Lanka, Ecuador and Columbia were allowed to buy Kfirs. However, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines leased 25 Kfirs for use as adversary aircraft at Top Gun and the Marine Corps adversary squadron. At least one Israeli pilot joined Top Gun as an instructor.
The Navy and Marines found the Kfir an excellent MiG-21 simulator. It was small and fast but with the same limitations – the tendency to bleed off speed rapidly in a turn, making it easy meat for F-14s.
With the end of the Kfir program, IAI struggled to find a new aircraft. It attempted to obtain permission to license produce F-16s, but when this was turned down they decided to build their own indigenous fighter named, logically enough, the Lavi, which means lion in Hebrew. The Lavi proved to be a long, controversial program, which will be covered in a future article .
