IAI Kfir

IAI Kfir in Madatech museum, Haifain 2008
Role	Fighter-bomber.
National origin	Israel
Manufacturer	Israel Aircraft Industries.
First flight	1970
Introduction	1975
Status	Active
Primary user	Heyl Ha'Avir.
Number built	225
Unit cost	4.5 millions $

The Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir or IAI Kfir is an Israeli fighter-bomber aircraft. It is based on the French Mirage 5 but with an american turbojet and avionics. It is a single or dual seat.

Users

When Israel stopped using Kfir in 1996, the aircraft was sold to foreign countries. Colombia, Ecuador, and Sri Lanka bought some of them. Between 1985 and 1989, the U.S. Navy rented twenty five single-seat Kfir, as F-21A. American Kfir were used for dissimilar air combat training, for simulation of Soviet fighter aircraft like MiG-23 Flogger.

Sri Lanka used the Kfir against the Tamils Tigers rebellion.

Bibliography

• Frawley, Gerard, The international directory of military aircraft 2002/2003 . London : Aerospace Publication, 2002. ISBN 1-875671-55-2.
• Gaillard, Pierre, Avions et hélicoptères militaires d'aujourd'hui Paris, France : Larivière éditions, 1999. ISBN 2-907051-24-5.
• Kaminsky, Tom, The United States Military Aviation Directory, London : Airtime Publishing, 2000. ISBN 1-880588-29-3.

References

1. ↑ (in French) http://www.avionslegendaires.net/avion-militaire/i-a-i-kfir/
2. ↑ "IAI Kfir - CombatAircraft.com". www.combataircraft.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
3. ↑ "F-21 Kfir Fighter Jet".
4. ↑ (in French) http://www.aviationsmilitaires.net/display/aircraft/47 Archived 2012-09-15 at the Wayback Machine