Page 389 - (DK) Smithsinian - Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare

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◀ ENGLISH ELECTRIC LIGHTNING F.1A ▼ DASSAULT MIRAGE III C The delta-winged Mirage III
Single-seat cockpit Date 1960 Origin UK Date 1961 Origin France series has been exported to
21 countries, including Israel,
Wingspan 34 ⁄4ft (10.6m) Wingspan 27ft (8.2m) which used the aircraft with
3
Length 50ft (15.2m) Length 50 ⁄4ft (15.5m) great success during the
3
Top speed 1,386mph (2,230kph) or Mach 2.1 Top speed 1,460mph (2,350kph) Six-Day War of 1967.
Engine Two 16,000lb (71.17kN) Rolls Royce Engine 13,225lb (6,000kg) SNECMA
Avon 301R turbojets Atar 9B afterburning turbojet NUCLEAR BOMBERS
The Lightning was the first British aircraft to exceed
Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound) in level flight.
This, combined with its excellent rate of climb,
made it Britain’s main air-defense fighter.

Aircraft carried two 30mm
DEFA cannon, a single Super
530, and two Sidewinder or Delta wing
Armed with seven 23mm NR Underwing
cannon in three turrets and Magic air-to-air missiles fuel tank AND INTERCEPT
nose, a 44,092lb (20,000kg)
bomb load, or a single AS-3
standoff missile
Cockpit with
Aircraft carried nuclear and three-man crew
conventional bombs ORS

Tail armed with
20mm M61
rotary cannon
Under-fuselage
fuel pod
23mm autocannon ▲ CONVAIR B-58 HUSTLER This highly ambitious supersonic Afterburning
in tail turret Date 1961 Origin US nuclear bomber utilized many turbojet
of the latest advances in aviation
3
Wingspan 56 ⁄4ft (17.3m)
technology. Although difficult
3
Length 96 ⁄4ft (29.5m) to fly, it was capable of a high Twin fins
Top speed 1,319mph (2,122kph) or Mach 2 maximum speed.
▼ MCDONNELL DOUGLAS Engine Four 15,020lb (6,815kg) General Armed with four AA-6
F-15C EAGLE Electric J79-GE-5A/B/C afterburning turbojets air-to-air missiles
Date 1976 Origin US
Wingspan 42¾ft (13m)
Length 63¾ft (19.4m)
Top speed 1,650mph (2,660kph)
Engine Two 17,450lb (77.62kN) Pratt &
Whitney F100-100 augmented turbofans
Built as a response to the MiG-25, the F-15C
Eagle emerged as one of the world’s foremost
fighter and strike aircraft, utilizing advanced
avionics with immense power and performance.
Bubble cockpit canopy
▲ MIKOYAN-GUREVICH
MIG-25 “FOXBAT”
Date 1970 Origin Soviet Union
Wingspan 46ft (14m)
3
Length 64 ⁄4ft (19.8m)
Top Speed 1,868mph (3,000kph)
or Mach 3.2
Engine Two 24,651lb (11,200kg)
Tumansky R-15B-300 turbojets
Hughes APG-63 radar
scanner in nose Built for speed and high altitudes, the
MiG-25 caused consternation in the West.
Aircraft armed with a single 20mm Capable of exceeding Mach 3 (three
cannon, four AIM-7F/M Sparrow, times the speed of sound), it remains
and four AIM 9L/M Sidewinder the world’s fastest combat aircraft.
air-to-air missiles