Luftwaffe 1946, Volume 2, Issue No.10
RCAF Dassault Chartreuse Reach Mirage IV F.6
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Dassault
Chartreuse Reach Mirage IV F.6
a/c 919, 425 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, 31 March 1989
Last operational flight: Major Patrick “Buster” Leduc (pilot) and Captain Les "Buzz" Parsons (radar intercept officer)
After fleeing revolutionary France in 1950, Marcel Dassault reestablished his aircraft design and manufacturing company in Canada with the financial assistance of the Quebec government and private investors. These included Fairchild, who merged their poorly performing Canadian subsidiary, Fairchild Aircraft Ltd, with the new company to form Avions Dassault Fairchild. Although the American company maintained its interest, the Fairchild name was dropped in 1952 and Avions Marcel Dassault emerged, although it went on to trade as Dassault Canada and, from 1960, simply as Dassault. By then Noorduyn Aircraft Limited had been absorbed by Dassault and the assets of the Ottawa Car & Aircraft Corporation acquired in order for the company to hire experienced staff and industrial space.
Having evacuated most of his design team and their families, Dassault was able to quickly focus on building the Mystere series of fighter prototypes based on the blueprints they had rescued from Paris. Using a rapid iterative prototyping and testing paradigm, Dassault would go on to produce the Mystere IIC, Mystere IVC and Super Mystere II series of fighter bombers for Canada and export customers by the end of the decade.
The exiled German aviation engineer and designer Alexander Lippisch joined Dassault in 1953. Taken to America as part of Operation Paperclip, he worked with Convair from 1947 to 1951, then joined Fairchild in 1951 and moved to Dassault in 1952. Hired to work on high-speed tailless delta designs, Lippisch was instrumental in the design of Dassault’s next series of fighters: the Mirage. After the Mirage I technology demonstrator flew in 1954, the company worked on a series of design studies (including the unbuilt Mirage II) while submitting tailless delta designs to meet RCAF requirements. This resulted in orders for the lightweight (single-seat, single-engine) Mirage III and the heavyweight (two-seat, twin-engined) Mirage IV.
The Mirage IV was proposed to meet a variety of RCAF requirements from the outset. The basic airframe, engines and avionics were viewed as a “platform” from which a series of specialised versions could be built while retaining a high degree of commonality. This resulted in an aircraft that was used in strategic nuclear bomber, atomic-armed interceptor, conventional bomber and reconnaissance roles. Mirage IV versions, produced and proposed, include:
Canadian production versions:
Mirage IV
Alabaster Gemini B.1: Original strategic nuclear bomber: Australia (24), Canada (68)
Mirage IV
White Cyclosa F.2: Interceptor: Canada (66)
Mirage IV
Amaranth Causeway BR.3: Conventional fighter-bomber, reconnaissance and maritime strike (anti-shipping): Canada (268)
Mirage IV
Amber Posy R.4: Reconnaissance: Australia (16), Canada (28)
Mirage IV
Lilac Dust E.5: Defence suppression for B.1 force, with Standard ARM and jammer pods, all ex-ES airframes: Canada (24)
Mirage IV
Chartreuse Reach F.6: Upgraded F.2 with new avionics and weapons: Canada (38)
Mirage IV
Cerise Seed B.7: Upgraded B.1 with new avionics and Indigo Vein ASMP nuclear missile: Canada (22)
Export-only production versions:
Mirage IV EA, EN and ES: Conventional bomber export versions of Mirage IV BR.3: EA Australia (36), EN Iran (24), ES Saudi Arabia (24, but cancelled before delivery*)
Prototypes and proposals include:
Mirage IV ASAT: Proposed lightened F.6 with anti-satellite missile
Mirage IV NG: Dassault prototype for “advanced ADV” with canards, wing leading-edge extensions and avionic upgrades: Canada (1)
Mirage IV Hudson/Mirage IV TF41: Proposed installation of Rolls Royce Canada Hudson turbofans or their American equivalent, the Allison TF41.
Mirage IV Iroquois: Proposed installation of Orenda Iroquois turbojet
Mirage IV J75: Proposed installation of Pratt & Whitney J75 turbojets
Mirage IV TF30/Mirage IV TF106: Proposed installation of Pratt & Whitney TF30 turbofan or its (proposed) Canadian licence-built equivalent, the Snecma TF106
Although envisaged to fulfil a variety of roles, the Mirage IV’s design was primarily dictated by its strategic nuclear bomber version, the
Alabaster Gemini Mirage IV B.1. Designed to carry the jointly produced Australian-Canadian 60 kiloton
Teal Harvest AN-11 atomic bomb, the Mirage IV B.1 was designed to match a mission profile that called for a high-speed, high-altitude penetration of Red airspace. Unusually, the B.1 did not have a nose-mounted radar but instead featured a downward-looking Philips Canada
Umber Baloon DRRA.8A navigation and bombing radar installed amidships in the lower fuselage. This radar was retained for the BR.3 and R.4, but replaced by the air surveillance
Viridian Board DRRA.8B in the F.2 and complimented in that version with the nose-mounted Hughes
Vanilla Cowboy fire control radar. Although an American radar, and based on the Hughes MX-1179, the
Vanilla Cowboy was a Canadian-specific export development and was designed specifically to fit the Mirage IV F.2 and work with Canadian R.530 missiles. Augmented by a suite of radios and datalinks (and a high altitude cruising flight profile), this combination of radars meant that the F.2 could be employed as an austere airborne early warning aircraft, able to look down and detect air traffic across a wide 360° swathe of airspace, alert ground defences and direct other interceptors into engagement positions.
The F.2 was armed with a mix of conventional and atomic weapons for its NORAD air defence role. Standard weapon loads were a mix of American-supplied Hughes AIM-2A Genie unguided air-to-air rockets (each with a 1.5 kt W25 nuclear warhead) and the conventionally armed Philips Canada
Saffron Icarus R.530 guided missiles. Usually, both semi-active radar homing (SARH) and infrared homing (IR) versions of the R.530 were carried; numerous versions of the R.530 were used by the F.2, these variants improving motor reliability, range and engagement parameters and kill probability.
38 F.2 were upgraded to
Chartreuse Reach F.6 standard between 1977 and 1980. The F.6 featured a host of new avionics, upgraded cockpits, a nose-mounted Hughes APG.63 radar (which was upgraded with a software-programmable signal processor (PSP) in 1979) plus a belly-mounted Phillips Canada
Rose Dream Searchwater AEW HAST (High Altitude Surveillance Task) radar for the AEW role. The AIM-2A Genie was simultaneously upgraded to Block II standard with refurbished electronics and an extended range rocket motor. The F.6 entered service matched to the SARH-guided Phillips Canada
Lavender Peacock Super 530.F, but with the introduction of the PSP APG.63s, this was replaced by the
Violet Juice Super 530.D. Photographs of F.2s and F.6s armed with six AIM-2As are not representative of operational loadouts, these being trial loadouts that were widely distributed for propaganda purposes. Tests were also undertaken with a variety of 20mm and 30mm cannon pods, but these never reached frontline units. Mirage IV F.2s and F.6s were rarely flown without two underwing drop tanks, with another semi-recessed fuel tank permanently mounted towards the rear of the lower fuselage (this fitting into the recess of originally designed for the B.1’s AN-11 atomic bomb).
The
Chartreuse Reach F.6 is often referred to as a “mid-life update program” but was actually a “late-life update program”. With the F.2’s avionics and missiles rapidly becoming obsolete, the F.6 program was launched to attain mandated standards required for continued NORAD certification by 1980. The American-built Hughes APG.63 radar was controversially selected over Canadian alternatives, none of which could match the required NORAD capabilities by 1980. The overlooked radars included the Phillips Canada
Champaign Clarity Foxhunter, which was being designed for thw F.6’s designated replacement, the Panavia Tornado ADV (Air Defence Variant). Serious problems with the Foxhunter lead to the production of 18
Coral Later Tornado F.2s with nose-mounted ballast instead of radars and the first Foxhunter-equipped
Carmine Window F.3 squadron finally reached initial operational capability in 1987. 425 squadron flew the RCAF’s last Mirage IV F.6 operational patrol of four jets on 31 March 1989, each armed with four AIM-2A Block II Genie and two Super 530 D missiles.
w*Saudi Arabia's order for 24 of the Mirage IV ES was already in production when the order was cancelled. The cancellation came about following a regrettable diplomatic faux pas by the Canadian Minister of Defence, Doug Muirhead. Attending an ‘Arabian Nights’ fancy dress party, Mr Muirhead was photographed in brown face and wearing an Arabian sheikh costume. This was just a few days after the Canadian and Saudi governments signed a deal for 100 Mirage IIIs and 24 Mirage IVs. A few months later the pictures were leaked to the Saudi embassy and Muirhead defended his costume choice as "celebrating the recent goodwill between the people of Canada and Saudi Arabia." After this, the contracts were cancelled and Saudi Arabia acquired F-4Cs, F-5A/Bs and A-5Ds instead.
OPS evolution: a Fishbed trilogy
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Left to right
Pt 1: Revolution Defence Cooperative OPS – PFA Fishbed E
The mount of Tunisia’s first female ace
Blue 17, 3rd Escadrille, Tunisian Peoples’ Defence Force
Gabes Air Base, Tunisian People’s Socialist Republic
19 August, 1965
The PFA model of the OPS was designed specifically for service in North Africa, modified from the basic OPS - PFI interceptor. The type’s most intensive period of combat action occurred as a result of the 1965 Arab War, when the UN intervened on the side of Jordan and invaded Egypt, forcing the Socialist Union (SU) to come to the defence of Egypt when its government was toppled by revolutionaries. Along the way, a leftist military coup in neutral Libya enabled the SU to use Libyan territory to bolster its position in Egypt. The UN’s response included a massive series of air strikes against targets across the length of North Africa. Throughout all this, the weak state of Palestine remained neutral and offered only token resistance to each of the sides driving across its territory.
On the 19 August 1965, Combat Pilot Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was at the controls was Blue 17 when it became entangled (along with the Blue 13) in a dogfight with a pair USAF F-109C Crusaders from the famed 8th TFW Wolf Pack. The Crusader pilots were conducting a fighter sweep ahead of an F-105 strike force when they were engaged by four Tunisian Fishbeds. Two of the Tunisian fighters soon broke off (Blue 7 and Blue 15), leaving Blue 13 and 17 to continue the battle. The dogfight lasted for around three minutes, until Combat Pilot Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Blue 17 gained the upper hand and hit the lead Crusader with an IR guided Atoll B missile. The American pilot, Maj. Gordon Ramsay, ejected and was taken prisoner; he was released in a 1983 prisoner exchange. The other Crusader broke off and returned to base.
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali went on to become Tunisia’s first female fighter ace, claiming another 3 kills in OPS – PFA Blue 17 and 23 more in other airframes. She achieved the rank of Division Leader, but retired after receiving major injuries during a UN air raid in 1976, going on to become the Chair of the National Union of Tunisian Women.
Pt 1: Revolution Defence Cooperative/Mistral Aviation OPS – UGP Fishbed P
Limited edition African ace
White 22, Mistral International People’s University Expeditionary Escadrille
Wadi Halfi B, Sudan Liberated Zone
26 November 1980
In 1975, Syria severed its connections with the SU, in the process cancelling an order for 75 OPS – BIS Fishbed Ms. These aircraft were already in assembly and now without a customer. To the Mistral People’s University (MPU), this was an opportunity for its own aviation research and development programmes. Airframes and components were taken to MPU’s Mistral Aviation Institute (MAI), where 43 were built to a variety of configurations, including 45 as the combat ready – UGP model with new radar, glass cockpit and other improvements. Capable of using the IR and SARH Apex missile, the UPG was used by MPU’s own reservist fighter escadrilles. From 1978, 16 were deployed to Almaza in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula for frontline operations.
When the UN abandoned its African members to their own devices in mid-1980, they quickly succumbed to Red uprisings. As the UN’s position crumbled, the Red Army made its move across the natural defence barrier of the Sahara, capturing several sub-Saharan airbases as a prelude to a massive airlift. With this, the Mistral’s upgraded Fishbeds moved to the satellite airfield of Wadi Halfi B in Sudan, primarily to provide local air defence.
Before this deployment the aircraft received new colours, as various African revolutionary national markings replaced those of the Red International Escadrilles. White 22 wore the markings of revolutionary Djibouti. Most of the MPU’s personnel were from Africa.
The airlift into Sudan did not go without receiving attention, both the A and B airfields at Wadi Halfi coming under continual African UN air attacked for over two weeks. During this time, pilots flying White 22 engaged in several successful air combats. Combat Pilot Leader Tafese Tesfaye (from Ethiopia) shot down a Sudanese EMB.326K on 23rd November (with Aphid) and an Ethiopia Mirage F1.E on the 24th (with Apex). Combat Pilot Daoud Wais (from Djibouti) shot down two Sudanese A-4Ms on the 26th (both Aphid), an Ethiopian A-37C on the 28th (with Aphid) and a Kenyan F-4E on 5th September (with Apex) .On 3rd September Combat Pilot Leader Rebecca Lolosoli (from Kenya) bagged a Sudanese EMB.326K (with guns) and a Kenyan Jaguar SK on the 4th (with Aphid).
On the 14 January, 1981, six OPS-UGPs were handed over to the Revolutionary Defence Council of Djibouti, including White 22. In 1983, a further 8 followed with 6 more in 1985. The nine surviving –UPGs were retired from Djibouti service in 2003. Mistral Aviation went on to produce several more successful Fishbed upgrade programs through to the mid 1990s.
Pt 3: Revolution Defence Cooperative OPS – JMC Fishbed C
Solo display one day, fighter the next
1 Fighter Squadron, Royal Jordanian Air Force
King Abdullah Air Base, Jordan
5 August 1965
Neutral Jordan’s first purchase of an aircraft from the Socialist Union was twenty four OPS – JMC Fishbed Cs in 1962. Equipping two squadrons based at King Abdullah Air Base near Amman, they were primarily operated in the air defence role.
When the 1965 Arab War broke out, pitting Egypt and Syria against Jordan, the Jordanian Fishbed pilots fought briefly before evacuating nine surviving aircraft to Saudi Arabia. Once there, they were grounded and quickly acquired by the USA for evaluation before being put to use as aggressor trainers. When the war ended following the United Nations’ intervention, the Royal Jordanian Air Force was re-equipped with American and Canadian types, including F-5s and Mirages.
This aircraft is unusual in having its internal cannon removed and the muzzle faired over; leaving it only armed with IR guided Atoll A missiles. As flown by Colonel Abdul Ibrahim, it had been modified for use a solo display machine. When the war broke out, the Jordanian’s didn’t have time to add the cannon before it was urgently needed for combat duty. Nevertheless, Col. Ibrahim was able to shoot down a Syrian (Turkish built) Fluffy on the second day of the war (5 August) and the next day another pilot flying this aircraft, Lt. Tariq Omar, claimed an Egyptian (Socialist Union built) Fresco, although the latter kill has never been confirmed.
In 1984 the USA returned this aircraft to Jordan, where it was put on display at the Royal Jordanian Air Force Museum in its original colours (as seen here) from 1986.