RAF Jaguar

RAF Jaguar

Key Points:

Single-seat attack and reconnaissance aircraft
Two-seat trainer
Upgraded to use GPS navigation and helmet-mounted missile sight




Details

Produced to meet a joint Anglo-French requirement in 1965 for a dual-role advanced/operational trainer and tactical support aircraft, the Jaguar has been transformed into a potent fighter-bomber. Deliveries began in 1973, and at its peak the Jaguar equipped 8 front-line RAF squadrons in the UK and Germany.

The RAF's Jaguar fleet has recently undergone a major upgrade programme and been designated as the Jaguar GR3 (or T4 for the 2-seat version). The upgrade included improved avionics including Global Positioning System (GPS) and Terrain-Referenced Navigation (TRN) , Night Vision Goggles (NVG) compatible lighting (both internally and externally), helmet-mounted sight and ASRAAM capability, and new Head-Up and Head-Down Displays in the cockpit.

The Jaguar is capable of using 1,000lb conventional bombs, Paveway laser- and GPS-guided bombs, rocket pods and its Aden cannon. For self-defence a pair of Sidewinder air-to-air missiles can be mounted on the over-wing hardpoints. It can be fitted with an external fuel tank on the centreline pylon, or 2 tanks under the wings. In the reconnaissance role the Jaguar is fited with an externally mounted pod, equipped with conventional 'wet film' and sensors. It can also carry the Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator (TIALD) pod for self-designation or co-operative designation of precision-guided weapons.


Jaguar Specifications

Engines:
Two Turbomeca/Rolls-Royce Adour turbofans

Length:
55ft 2in (16.83m)

Wingspan:
28ft 6 in (8.69m)

Top Speed:
1,056mph (1,700km/h)

Accommodation:
GR3: pilot only;
T4: pilot and pupil in tandem


Roles

Air Interdiction (AI). Low- or medium-level attacks using precision-guided, freefall or retarded bombs.

Close Air Support (CAS). Air action against hostile targets that are in close proximity to friendly forces on the ground.

Tactical Reconnaissance (Tac Recce).


Armament

Two 30mm Aden guns and up to 10,000lb (4,500kg) of stores. Weapons available include 1,000lb retard and freefall bombs, CBU-87 cluster bombs, Paveway 2 and 3 laser-guided bombs and CRV-7 rocket pods. Two AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missiles (carried over-wing) are used for self-defence. When used in the reconnaissance role, the pod is carried under the fuselage on the centreline pylon.

Recognition

Long sleek fuselage with a large swept tail fin and rudder. Relatively short-span swept wings are shoulder-mounted on the fuselage. The internal jet engines have intakes either side of the fuselage behind the cockpit, with their top surfaces forming an extension of the wing. The rear jetpipes are located forward and below the tailplane (1) which has marked anhedral (downward slope). The raised bubble canopy is set above the sharply-pointed 'chisel' nose (2). The twin mainwheels of the undercarriage retract into the fuselage (3). Two-seater aircraft have no radar and, as a consequence of accommodating the second pilot, a much larger canopy and small, pointed nose (4).



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