남아공의 국기를 기체전체에 도색하고 비행중인 치타전투기들

치타개발역사입니다. 시간부족으로 그냥 올리오니 참고하여 주십시요.^^

The Cheetah programme to upgrade the South African Air Force's (SAAF) fleet of Dassault Mirage III supersonic fighters was started in 1984, by the then Atlas Aviation (now Denel Aerospace). (Previously, from 1975, Atlas had assembled some of the SAAF's Mirage IIIs as well as its Mirage F1s.) At that time, South Africa operated Mirage IIICZ (Z being the suffix indicating that the aircraft were manufactured for the SAAF), IIIBZ, IIIDZ, IIID2Z, IIIE, IIIRZ and IIIR2Z versions. The country was under an international arms embargo, due to apartheid, and was engaged in conflict in northern Namibia and southern Angola. Significant Cuban forces, including air and air defence forces, were deployed in the latter country. Although the Cubans and South African rarely fought each other, the presence of the Cubans in Angola, and their access to the then latest Soviet technologies, including fighters, was of great concern to the South Africans. The Mirage III-series were no longer top-of-the-range but, with replacement impossible, the only option was a radical upgrading of the French design.

The upgraded Mirage IIIs were named Cheetahs. The first prototype, a two-seater, was rolled out two years after the start of the programme. The two-seaters are designated Cheetah Ds. The next phase in the programme was the upgrading of the Mirage IIIEZs to their new Cheetah E standard. The first Cheetah E was rolled out in 1987. The definitive model of the Cheetah, the Cheetah C upgrade of the Mirage IIICZ, emerged in 1992. Reportedly, some 50% of the Mirage airframe was reconstructed in the conversion process. The Cheetah C is far superior in capabilities to the Cheetah E. Only the Cheetah C and Cheetah D versions remain in service today. All the Cheetah Es were retired some years ago. The programme to convert the Mirage IIIRZ and IIIR2Z aircraft to Cheetah R standard was scrapped after the first conversion.

That one and only Cheetah R - SAAF serial 855 and a former IIIR2Z - was also used to test another abortive South African project, the Advanced Combat Wing (ACW). The ACW was developed by Denel and was a delta wing featuring a fixed, drooping, leading edge and four new fuel tanks giving a capacity of more than 260 l. Fitted to Cheetah R 855, the ACW demonstrated, among other (undisclosed) performance improvements, an increase in sustained turn-rate of 14% and an increase of 600 kg in maximum take-off weight. With severe defence cuts following the end of the Cold War, the independence of Namibia, and the ending of minority rule in South Africa, the ACW programme was cancelled. The wings themselves are now on display at the SAAF Museum at Swartkops Air Force Base, Pretoria. The fuselage of 855 was scrapped.

Twenty years after it was started, the Cheetah programme remains shrouded in secrecy. The aircraft offered to the Brazilian Air Force are Cheetah Cs, of which 38 were reportedly produced by Denel. The SAAF, which in 1982 operated almost 120 high performance combat jets (Mirages, Hawker Siddeley Buccaneers, and Canberras), today operates a single multirole fighter squadron with 28 aircraft, a mixture of Cheetah C and two-seat Cheetah Ds. With the Cheetah's replacement, the Saab/BAE Gripen International, on firm order and due to start entering service in 2007, at least 12 Cheetah Cs are now surplus to SAAF requirements and available for sale or lease.