The Jaguar began as the British Aircraft Corporation P.45 & the Breguet Br.121, each designed to meet a separate requirement (the British Air Staff Target 362 & French ECAT requirement respectively). SEPECAT was formed in May 1965 to design & produce an aircraft which met both the French & British requirements. The Jaguar was originally meant to be a training aircraft (SEPECAT being an acronym of Societé Européenne de Production de l'Avion Ecole de Combat at Appui Tactique), but was developed into a strike aircraft to meet several other requirements for the RAF & Armée de l'Air. It incorporated several useful features for operations in Europe, including the capability to take-off from motorways & grass strips, & the ability to carry a defensive payload (usually AIM-9 Sidewinders) on hard-points over its wings. Several models of the Jaguar were made: the Jaguar A (French single-seater), Jaguar B (British two-seater), Jaguar E (French two-seater), Jaguar S (British single-seater) & the Jaguar International. The Jaguar International was the export version, with orders for 12 aircraft from the Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana (Ecuadorian Air Force), over 100 orders from the Bharatiya Vay Sena (Indian Air Force), & several other orders from the Nigerian & Omani Air Forces.

Jaguar As & Ss were Strike/ Reconnaissance versions, & were able to carry 1,000lb bombs, JP.755 CBUs, rockets & tactical nuclear weapons. Jaguar As formed the backbone of the Armée de l'Air's Nuclear Strike force at Istres, & were also used by strike units such as EC3, EC4, EC7 & EC11. Jaguar As were equipped with Atlis II Laser/TV pods, & were equipped to carry the AS.30L Smart missile. All front-line RAF Jaguars were equipped with a Ferranti LRMTS (Laser Range-finder & Marked Target Seeker) mounted in the nose, & their brake 'chutes could be removed from the tail & replaced with ECM equipment. British Jaguars (unlike their French counterparts) had ARI.18223 Radar Warning Receivers mounted on the tail & uprated Mk104 engines. 160 Jaguar As & 165 Jaguar Ss were delivered, as well as 38 Jaguar B & 39 Jaguar E two-seaters.

The typical warloads of British & French Jaguars was radically different, mainly due to the difference in roles that they were employed in; French Jaguars were used primarily as nuclear delivery aircraft of the French Force Dissuasion (Nuclear Deterrent Force), & carried a typical warload of two 30mm DEFA cannon with 150rpg, two Philips Matra Phimat chaff dispensers on the outboard pylons, two RP36 1,200 litre (264 Imperial Gal.) drop tanks on the inboard pylons, & a single AN52 nuclear weapon on the centreline pylon; the RAF's Jaguars operated in a more conventional role: the typical warload for an attack mission was eight 1,000lb (454kg) bombs with type 117 Mk3 retarding tails & two 30mm Aden cannon with 150rpg, & the warload for a photo-reconnaissance was two 30mm Aden cannon with 150rpg, two 1,200 litre (264 Imperial Gal.) drop tanks on the inboard pylons, one Philips Matra Phimat chaff dispenser on the port outboard pylon, one Westinghouse ALQ-101-10 jamming pod on the starboard outboard pylon, & a single centreline reconnaissance pod with linescan equipment & cameras.

The Jaguar is coming to the end of its service life with the RAF, being superceded by the new Eurofighter in an attack configuration. The Jaguar (for an aircraft that was originally designed as an advanced trainer) has come a long way since the P.45 & Br.121, & will probably have been fully replaced by the Eurofighter by 2005, after over 30 years of faithful service.

Country of Origin: United Kingdom & France

Type: Strike & Reconnaissance aircraft

Powerplant: Two 3,647kg (8,040lbs) Rolls-Royce/Turboméca Adour Mk104 turbofans

Performance: Max. speed at 11,000m (36,090ft) 1,593km/h (990mph); combat radius with weapon load 557km (357 miles)

Weights: Empty 7,000kg (15,432lbs); max. take-off weight 15,500kg (34,172lbs)

Dimensions: Wingspan 8.69m (28ft 6in); length 16.83m (55ft 2.5in); height 4.89m (16ft 0.5in); wing area 24m² (258.34ft²)

Armaments: Two DEFA cannon with 150rpg, five external hardpoints with provision for 4,536kg (10,000lb) of stores, including one AN-52 tactical nuclear weapon, AS.37 Martel anti-radar missiles, drop-tanks, 1,000lb (454kg) bombs, ASMs, Sidewinder AAMs, rocket launchers, reconnaissance pods etc.

Electronics: ARI.23246 Sky Shadow deception jammer, 

Operators: UK (RAF), France (Armée de l'Air), India (Bharatiya Vay Sena), Ecuador (Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana), Nigeria, Oman

History: First flight 8th of September 1968; service delivery 1973; took part in Gulf War 1991

Sub-Types: Jaguar A, Jaguar B, Jaguar E, Jaguar S, Jaguar M, Jaguar International,  FBW (Fly-By-Wire) Jaguar, Jaguar ACT (Active Control Technology)

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