Atlas Cheetah with Russian Engine (847)
Rob Arndt
http://newsite.ipmssa.za.org/images/stories/kb/aircraft/cheetah/cheetah_d_847_3_small.jpg
As a possible upgrade for the F1AZ no 216 was modified by Aerosud and
fitted with the Russian Klimov SMR-95 engine. This is essentially the
same engine as used in the Mig 29 but with a slight modification to
the aft section to fit into the Mirage F1AZ. No 216 is known as the
"Super Mirage F1AZ" but the project was discontinued due to costs. See
also the F1 knowledge base. During 2001 the project was revived as a
demonstrator of Russian/South African cooperation in advanced
technology. A single Cheetah D no 847 was also fitted with the same
Russian engine. The D model was used as no 847 was already used for
system testing and the area of the second ejection seat, once removed,
could be used for test instrumentation. But the project was
discontinued due to costs and some problems were experienced with the
aircraft's centre of gravity. Following the success of the 9K50 engine
in Cheetah D no 844 all Cheetah Ds was refitted with the 9K50 engine.
No 847 were displayed for a number of years at the SAAF Museum
Swartkops, but without the Russian engine. During SAAF 80 the aircraft
was on static display and currently in storage with DENEL at AFB
Waterkloof.
Rob
David E. Powell
> http://newsite.ipmssa.za.org/images/stories/kb/aircraft/cheetah/cheet...http://newsite.ipmssa.za.org/images/stories/kb/aircraft/cheetah/cheet...
>
> As a possible upgrade for the F1AZ no 216 was modified by Aerosud and
> fitted with the Russian Klimov SMR-95 engine. This is essentially the
> same engine as used in the Mig 29 but with a slight modification to
> the aft section to fit into the Mirage F1AZ. No 216 is known as the
> "Super Mirage F1AZ" but the project was discontinued due to costs. See
> also the F1 knowledge base. During 2001 the project was revived as a
> demonstrator of Russian/South African cooperation in advanced
> technology. A single Cheetah D no 847 was also fitted with the same
> Russian engine. The D model was used as no 847 was already used for
> system testing and the area of the second ejection seat, once removed,
> could be used for test instrumentation. But the project was
> discontinued due to costs and some problems were experienced with the
> aircraft's centre of gravity. Following the success of the 9K50 engine
> in Cheetah D no 844 all Cheetah Ds was refitted with the 9K50 engine.
> No 847 were displayed for a number of years at the SAAF Museum
> Swartkops, but without the Russian engine. During SAAF 80 the aircraft
> was on static display and currently in storage with DENEL at AFB
> Waterkloof.
>
> Rob
MiG-29 engines would be available in good supply. I wonder how a
Mirage style airframe would do with one of the Su-27's monster
engines.
Good idea for a mix though.
Roger Conroy
"Rob Arndt" <teut...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:c70d4565-48b6-48c4...@u19g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
This isn't news - its ancient history!
P.S. I thought you were leaving?
bbrought
wrote:
>
> MiG-29 engines would be available in good supply. I wonder how a
> Mirage style airframe would do with one of the Su-27's monster
> engines.
>
> Good idea for a mix though.
The SMR-95 engine was a rather major modification of the RD-33, so
availability of MiG engines wasn't a major consideration - it wasn't
as simple as making a few changes to excess MiG engines. The project
was started while South Africa still had an arms embargo against it,
which really limited the number of possible candidates. The main
reason the upgrade program was initiated was to get some improvement
in SFC by going to a turbofan instead of a pure turbojet (the
ATAR-09K50 is a pure turbojet), and the RD-33 also offered additional
thrust when in afterburner. As I said, the mods were major and
included "straightening" the engine, as there is a "kink" in the
engine as installed in the MiG. The RD-33 was specifically designed
for installation in a twin-engined fighter, which meant it did not
comply with the requirements for a single engined fighter. For this
reason, a fairly extensive range of more subtle changes were needed,
but the most major one was probably repositioning of the gearbox.
There were also attempts to reduce the amount of smoke produced by the
engine (not quite achieved on the SMR-95) and a substantial increase
in TBO.
The RD-93 used in the JF-17 is very similar to the SMR-95 engine, so
the project was very successful from Klimov's point of view.
The installation in Mirage F1AZ #216 was very mature, and if it wasn't
for the end of the arms embargo allowing us to purchase new aircraft,
the mod would probably have been done on the whole fleet. 216 Is still
occasionally flown for demo purposes and there are still some hours
left on the engine. The Cheetah installation, on the other hand, was
far from mature and a lot of work was still needed at the time when
the project was canceled. It also seemed that the Cheetah installation
was not going to be of as much benefit as it was for the Mirage F1.
Su-27 engines were never an option - there is no way you can
physically fit one of those into a Mirage airframe.