Russian upgrade bodes well for next stage of programme (658 words)

Published: 8/27/2001

The South Africans became the first western fighter producers to fly their wares at the recent MAKS 2001 air show, with flights by the Super Mirage, upgraded in Russia and flown by a South African Air Force pilot. The aircraft is the result of a collaborative effort, led on the Russian-side by Rosoboronexport, together with Klimov, Vympel, RSK MiG and other industrial companies, plus a group of South African companies, including Marvol, Armscor, Aerosud and Denel Aviation. The group now aims to provide what is termed the "second stage" of the Super Mirage programme, to provide customers with upgraded and refurbished Mirage F1 and Mirage III/V series fighters. The "first stage" of the programme, developed jointly between Promexport and South Africa's Armscor, began in 1990 and was terminated in 1997 for what have been described as "political reasons", despite a series of successful tests in 1994-95 on a former South African Air Force Mirage F-1AZ and South African-produced variant of the Mirage III, the Cheetah D2. The new phase, revealed at last year's Africa Defiance Show in Pretoria, was followed this year by the formation of a joint venture between Rosoboronexport and Marvol - Marvoltech - to market the upgraded aircraft. A Mirage F1AZ taken from storage in South Africa was then shipped to Zhukovsky in Russia and re-engined with the more powerful, but lighter, Klimov SMR-95, which flew on 7th August for the first time. The engine, a derivative of the MiG-29's RD-33, has a new gearbox and a re-designed fuel control system, considerably improving flight performance, despite increasing range from 1820 to 2250 km. The first aircraft will be followed by a second, which is currently being refurbished. The market for the aircraft is seen as being among the 1200 Mirages that are estimated still to be in service, with a possible demand for over 300 upgraded aircraft, according to Rosoboronexport. The 22 aircraft currently held in storage in South Africa could provide the first possible upgrades for sale. Pierre Dippenaar, Director of Engineering with Aerosud, says if a customer presents itself, it could deliver an initial batch of Super Mirages in 2003, which would remain in service for 15 years, operating for an average 200 hours a year, before a major scheduled overhaul. Current-production RD-33s have TBO of 1000 hours and guaranteed lifetime of 2000 hours, after which they are operated conditionally. The price for a Super Mirage, according to Marvoltech, depends on the level of upgrade, but Dippenaar says that a reasonably upgraded aircraft would be competitive at $10-15m, contrasting with the usual $30-35m price tag for a MiG-29SMT and considerably cheaper yet than the Mirage-2000. The price of the aircraft seems to have fallen significantly from the 30% discount on a new aircraft, cited earlier. Aerosud, which acted as the main contractor for South African Air Force (SAAF) Mirage F1 overhaul and refurbishing programme, is offering a glass cockpit for the Super Mirage with colour MFDs, GPS-aided navigation system and high-angle HUD. The package has already been developed and approved by the SAAF and includes dark-Moon attack capability. The pilot uses a helmet-mounted sighting system (either Russian Schel-3M or South African) with the R-73E missile with a maximum firing range of 30 km, which Marvoltech claims gives the Super Mirage an advantage in close air combat with any of second and third generation fighters, and parity with fourth-generation aircraft. The aircraft can also carry in strike role laser-guided bombs, free-fall bombs and a reconnaissance pod. Additional options, according to sources, include Phazotron-NIIR Kopyo multi-mode radar, enabling the use of the Vympel R-27 and RVV-AE medium-range missiles. Initial reports suggested that the aircraft might find customers in Latin America, particularly Brazil, and since then, Jordan, Libya and Morocco have been added to the list. South Africa has already made sales of 60 ex-SAAF Mirages to Chile and Brazil.

Article ID: 2722