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Mirage F1AZ and SuperMirage South African Air Force (S.A. Lugmag)
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The Africa Aerospace and Defense 2000 exhibition / SAAF 80 International Air Show
at Waterkloof Air Force Base, South Africa was held the first week of September. Jason
Ashworth, who attended the show, reported that there were several static displays of
Mirage aircraft as well as flying displays including the Mirage IIIBZ, IIICZ, and an
F1CZ. He sent a couple of photos from the event
website showing a static displayed Mirage F1AZ armed with Russian air-to-air
missiles. I've gathered a few other images of the Mirage F1 in South African
service on this page.
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The South African Air Force (SAAF) operated two versions of the Mirage F1, the F1AZ and the
F1CZ. The Mirage F1AZ is a simplified day/visual attack aircraft version of the F1CZ
interceptor. The SAAF began using the F1 in 1975. The initial color scheme was
sand and dark green upper surfaces in standard pattern. The F1AZs were initially
painted in a glossy finish, the F1CZs in matte. The Mirage F1AZ above is painted in this color scheme.
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The SAAF used the F1AZ for attack missions over Angola from the late 1970s to
the late 1980s. This combat experience led to the three-tone color scheme
shown above. The upper colors have been toned down quite a bit and the
light undersurface color had been replaced by a medium gray that covers all lower
surfaces and now extends up the fuselage sides including the vertical tail.
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During the mid-1990's Aerosud re-engined one Mirage F1AZ with the Russian
Klimov RD-33 engine (as used on the MiG-29). The aircraft was called
the SuperMirage and is the subject of one of Jason Ashworth's
Mirage F1 versions. There was not sufficient interest in the project and the
SAAF decided against equipping their Mirage aircraft with the engine. In November
1997, after nearly 22 years of service, the last operational SAAF Mirage F1 was retired.
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The two images above, from the AAD 2000 website, show a Mirage F1AZ equipped with
R-73 (NATO code: AA-11 'Archer') air-to-air missiles mounted under the wings.
The Archer,
designed with a very advanced IR system and control engine, is considered to be
better than the latest Sidewinder missiles.
For more images of the Klimov powered SuperMirage refer to the earlier Mirage
slideshow I assembled of images from the Test Flight
and Development Centre at the Bredasdorp, South African. For further information
visit the Aerosud website and the Reference
page of the IPMS South Africa website.
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Images Copyright Aerosud, Michel Klaver, and Marvotech.
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