IAI Nesher
| Nesher | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| IAI Finger at Air Fest 2010 | |
| Role | Multirole aircraft |
| Manufacturer | IAI |
| First flight | 1971 |
| Introduction | 1972 |
| Retired | 1977 (Israel), 2015 (Argentina) |
| Status | Retired |
| Primary users |
Israeli Air Force Argentine Air Force |
| Number built | 61 (51+10) |
| Developed from | Dassault Mirage 5 |
The Israel Aircraft Industries Nesher (Hebrew: נשר, "Vulture" - often mistranslated as "Eagle") is the Israeli version of the Dassault Mirage 5 multi-role fighter aircraft. Most were later sold to the Argentine Air Force as Daggers, and later upgraded as Fingers.
Israel had to replace more than 60 aircraft lost during the Six Day War and the War of Attrition which followed. Before the war, Israel began co-development with Dassault to build the Mirage 5 and it was eventually built by Israel and named Raam in Hebrew (thunder).
Dassault Aviation had developed the Mirage 5 at the request of the Israelis, who were the main foreign customers of the Mirage III. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) wanted the next version to have less all-weather capability in exchange for improved ordnance carrying capacity and range as the weather in the Middle East is mostly clear.
In January 1969, the French government arms embargo on Israel (in response to the 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon) prevented the first 30 Mirage 5 aircraft (which were already paid for by Israel) plus optional 20 from being delivered and cut off support for the existing Mirage IIICJ fleet.
This was a setback for the Israeli Air Force, who needed the new Mirage to compensate for the losses of the Six Day War and was still using the Mirage IIIC. Israel then decided to produce the (Raam A and B project) airframes as it had the necessary plans, although Israel did not officially obtain a manufacturing license.
Officially, Israel built the aircraft after obtaining a complete set of drawings from France and Atar engine plans came from a Swiss engineer who worked in a plant in Switzerland, where Mirage III aircraft were being produced under licence. However, some sources claim Israel actually received 50 Mirage 5s in crates from the French Air Force (AdA), while the AdA took over the 50 aircraft originally intended for Israel. The Swiss Mirage drawings is supposed to be an only cover-up story, and after Argentina Air Force bought Ex-Israeli Neshers data is available to be almost sure the Neshers were Mirage 5s assembled in Israeli from French made parts and Swiss Atar engines delivered secretely. French made parts were also believed to have been supplied to build the first IAI Kfir, and also supplied to South Africa via Israel.
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Wikipedia