20 Facts About SEPECAT Jaguar

SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role.

SEPECAT Jaguar programme began in the early 1960s, in response to a British requirement for an advanced supersonic jet trainer to replace the Folland Gnat T1 and Hawker Hunter T7, and a French requirement for a cheap, subsonic dual role trainer and light attack aircraft to replace the Fouga Magister, Lockheed T-33 and Dassault Mystere IV.

SEPECAT Jaguar was to replace the McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR2 in the close air support, tactical reconnaissance and tactical strike roles, freeing the Phantom to be used for air defence.

The French, meanwhile, had chosen the Jaguar to replace the Aeronavale's Dassault Etendard IV, and increased their order to include an initial 40 of a carrier-capable maritime version of the Jaguar, the Jaguar M From these apparently disparate aims would come a single and entirely different aircraft: relatively high-tech, supersonic, and optimised for ground-attack in a high-threat environment.

SEPECAT Jaguar is an orthodox single-seat, swept-wing, twin-engine monoplane design, with tall tricycle-type retractable landing gear.

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Finally, the SEPECAT Jaguar was equipped with either a pair of French DEFA cannons, or British ADEN cannons.

SEPECAT Jaguar International had the unusual option of overwing pylons, used for short-range air-to-air missiles, such as the Matra R550 Magic or the Sidewinder.

SEPECAT Jaguar is powered by the Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour turbofan engine, which was developed in parallel with, and primarily for the Jaguar.

Adour was developed into both afterburning and non-afterburning models; the Hawk, which had beaten the SEPECAT Jaguar to fulfill the Air Staff Target 362 trainer requirement, used the non-afterburning Adour engine.

The further upgraded SEPECAT Jaguar GR3A introduced the new EO GP1 digital reconnaissance pod, a helmet-mounted sight, improved cockpit displays, a datalink, and improved night vision goggles compatibility.

Single SEPECAT Jaguar was converted into the SEPECAT Jaguar Active Control Technology with fly-by-wire controls and aerodynamic alterations to the airframe; the aerodynamic instability improved manoeuvrability and the test data was used in the development of the Eurofighter.

In French service, the SEPECAT Jaguar was frequently deployed in defence of national interests in Africa during the 1970s, a policy sometimes referred to as "SEPECAT Jaguar diplomacy".

The further upgraded SEPECAT Jaguar GR3A introduced fleet-wide compatibility with TIALD and the new EO GP1 digital reconnaissance pod, a helmet mounted sight, improved cockpit displays, a datalink, and improved night vision goggles compatibility.

The RAF's SEPECAT Jaguar 97s were intended to be wired for the carriage of ASRAAMs on the overwing launchers, but clearance of this weapon was never completed because of funding cuts.

The second batch of aircraft for the IAF were 40 SEPECAT Jaguar Internationals built at Warton, the first aircraft being delivered in March 1981.

The SEPECAT Jaguar was found to be a long-range, fast, stable and effective strike aircraft in IAF service.

The only real issue with SEPECAT Jaguar is the lack of power at altitude, especially with heavy ordnance on board.

The SEPECAT Jaguar is used in small numbers for the anti-ship role, equipped with the Sea Eagle missile.

The SEPECAT Jaguar remains an important element of the Indian military as, along with the Mirage 2000, the SEPECAT Jaguar has been described as one of the few aircraft capable of performing the nuclear strike role with reasonable chances of success.

The SEPECAT Jaguar International was an export version which was sold to Ecuador, Nigeria and Oman.