@ New York, NY
August 2018
My first visit to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum brought me face to face with this rare Israeli aircraft that I had read about in my youth. The Kfir (Hebrew for “Lion Cub”) is an Israeli-built multirole combat aircraft based on the Dassault Mirage 5, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-built version of the GE J79 turbojet engine. First flown in 1973, more than 220 were produced. A 1967 arms embargo imposed upon Israel by the French prevented deliveries of Israeli Mirages. The Israelis then replied by producing an unlicensed copy of the Mirage 5 which led to the Kfir. Between 1985 and 1989, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps leased 25 Kfir C.1, which were officially designated F-21A Lion, for use as adversary aircraft used for dissimilar air combat training. This C.2 aircraft was donated to the Museum by the Israeli Government. Fuji X-E2s w/18-135mm.
