The SEPECAT Jaguar is not necessarily the aircraft most enthusiasts turn to
when describing the most interesting or memorable of recent times, and yet now that it no longer graces the skies, (of Europe at least), it is worth taking a look at what became a potent battlefield performer that undertook
its allotted tasks with a quiet assurance and became a firm favourite with aircrew from the air arms that were fortunate to operate it. As the complexity and cost of military aircraft increased dramatically in the late
1950’s, and production runs for most national air arms reduced it was almost inevitable that cooperation between aircraft manufacturers from different nations would emerge as a sensible business proposition to
supply their respective armed forces and hopefully garner export orders to boot. France, (Aérospatiale), and Great Britain, (British Aircraft Corporation), had already broken fresh
ground whilst involved in the Concorde project. This project had proved that such cooperation was possible, and indeed the political agreements that were part of the programme had probably saved it from dissolution
when the true development costs became plainly visible to all parties. Therefore when the Armée de l’air looked toward their new fighter/trainer requirement, and the RAF looked to replace the Gnat and Hunter
there grew an industrial and political opportunity for some common development to exist.
In France, Breguet had already won a design competition for the ECAT
requirement, (Ecole de Combat et d’Appui Tactique), with their Breguet 121, a transonic, two engine design. In the UK, AST362, (Air Staff Target 362), had defined a supersonic capable replacement for the Gnat, with a ground
attack capability to replace the Hawker Hunter. A British proposal to modify the Breguet 121 concept to match their requirements was considered, leading to an agreement of understanding in May 1965 – at the time both
BAC and Breguet were keen for the work to progress to help fill order books and maintain engineering and design staff levels. By November of the same year the specification for the aircraft had been agreed – totalling
five variants – a two seat advanced trainer, (British and French versions), a single seat tactical strike model, (British and French), and a single seat naval strike variant, (French only).
Following this in May of 1966 SEPECAT, (Société Européenne de Production
de l’avion Ecole de Combat et d'Appui Tactique), was set up. One of the lessons learnt from the Concorde project was that unless there was a single body in control of business matters, contracts, marketing and the like
there would always be conflicts between members of the team which would be time consuming and costly to resolve. The solution was to set up a company based in Paris, SEPECAT, with Breguet and BAC becoming sub
-contractors. SEPECAT took its board of directors from both Breguet and BAC. History shows that the name Jaguar was agreed over a phone call – typical of the direct and sensible approach shown during the development
of this aircraft. Typical of the speed with which things could move under this organisation is the example of the agreement of the name of the aircraft, proposed by Henri Ziegler, agreed
the same day, and within 48 hours material was being distributed with the name at that year’s Paris air show.
Initial thinking was that 150 Jaguars would be required by each air arm,
however this developed to 200 in 1967, the RAF requiring 90 single and 110 two seaters. The French requirement included the M type; however the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Breguet by the Avions Marcel
Dassault Company was to have repercussions for this type, and the Jaguar programme as a whole in the course of time. By this time the specification and cost of the aircraft, (due to British requirements), had risen measurably
from that of the Breguet 121, the French were prepared to compromise however as the guaranteed production run ensured ongoing work for the workforce based in Colomiers, Toulouse. The French did however make sure
that Jaguar was a fully metric design – the first such aircraft to enter RAF service.
The increased weapons and equipment payload demanded by the RAF had
an obvious impact on the choice of engine for the type. Breguet’s choice for their 121 was the Rolls-Royce RB172 turbofan, which was a development of an engine designed for commercial airliners, with thrust in the 4,000 to 5
,000lb range, (1,800 to 2,250kg). Rolls-Royce entered into an agreement in February, 1965, with Turboméca, who had already conceived their own engine with a similar output, known as the T-260. The subsequent joint
design became the RB.172/T.260, with a dry thrust rating of 4,400lb, (2,200kg), and eventually became known as Adour. It was expected that Adour could be developed into a more powerful plant, but in the early
history of Jaguar this was not delivered quickly enough for the liking of the airframe manufacturers – Rolls-Royce were heavily involved in the development of the RB211 at the time,
suffering insolvency early in 1971 as a result. Flight development examples of the engine were used in Jaguar prototypes, and powered its first flight on 8th September 1978, under the command of Breguet test
pilot Bernard Witt. The Adour Mk 101 was fitted to the first production machines, giving 4,620 and 6,930lb dry and reheat thrust respectively.
Operational deliveries began to the Armée de l’air in May of 1972. These
were type E, two seat trainer variants, and these were soon followed by their single seat Jaguar A brethren. By this time the M type requirement for the Marine nationale had disappeared, having lost out to the Dassault
Super Etendard. Despite competent results during handling trials on the Clemenceau the M became a victim of the fact that it was not an original Dassault product, and half the revenue on the aircraft would pass out of
France. Higher cost also played its part as did the low margin of extra power available from the Adours at this time – never an attractive proposition for a carrier operated aircraft! The Armée de l’air stepped in to
take the forty M variant production capacity, leaving the planned production totals at this time at 160 type A’s + 40 type E’s, 165 type S’s + 35 type B’s, for the French and British
respectively. A different timetable, the troubles at Rolls-Royce, and general and specific examples of industrial unrest in the UK led to the RAF receiving its first operational examples late in 1973, after
undergoing the normal OCU, (Operational Conversion Unit), handling. By this time the original standard training requirement of the design had all but disappeared.
The RAF’s single seat Jaguars were initially designated GR1 in service, and
the two seaters T2, and they differed from their French counterparts quite markedly in their mission capability due to their avionics fit. The GR1 was fitted with HUD and associated NAVWASS, (Navigation & Weapon Aiming
Sub System) - a first generation inertial navigation and attack system produced by Marconi, fin mounted ECM/RWR, (Radar Warning Receiver), laser range finder, and projected map display – all absent from French
aircraft. British aircraft received various upgrades during their service lives, something the French did not invest in for their own fleet – RAF Jaguar pilots experiencing exchange tours on French machines drawing
comparisons to the cockpit layout as more akin to 1960’s Hunters than their own upgraded machines. French Jaguars also continued to use the Adour 102 throughout their lives; RAF
operators stated the lack of engine power in certain circumstances as the type’s most noticeable weakness. The Adour 102 was the second production version of the engine and amongst other things dealt with the
issue of reheat ignition capability. The Adour 101 allowed reheat at full throttle settings only. Later 102’s allowed the use of PTR, (Part Throttle Reheat), which allowed the introduction of reheat at 85% throttle and
upwards. This had obvious implications on single-engine aircraft performance in critical operational situations such as landing approach – dry and full reheat thrust developed was 5,165 and 7380lb respectively, (2,350 & 3,350kg).
Jaguar was always an aircraft that would have export potential for
SEPECAT, and it was here that the foundations of future British/French collaboration of this type would be undermined – the British would participate in MRCA and Eurofighter, both projects being devoid of any
French input during the serious design stages. BAC appointed Mr Jeffrey Quill and Breguet/Dassault Paul Jaillard as their representatives, though Dassault had by now a competitor to the Jaguar in the Mirage F1. Dassault
could obviously increase profits by selling a 100% home grown product compared to one shared with BAC, and history shows failed Jaguar export orders to a number of air arms due to this, even having an impact on the
Netherlands and Belgian acquisition of the F16, where Dassault unwisely pitched for a Mirage F1 solution to NATO’s ground attack and interceptor solution – the F1 being second best
to the F16 and Jaguar in their respective design roles. Nevertheless, export orders did arise. India has been a staunch advocate of the capabilities of Jaguar, and known locally sometimes as Shamsher there are
approximately 100 of these aircraft in service. The first aircraft were delivered in July 1979 and No. 14 Squadron became operational at Ambala in September 1980. Aircraft are a mixture of direct BAC supply, BAe,
(British Aerospace), supplied kits, and HAL, (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd), produced aircraft. The Indian Air Force is the sole recipient of the Jaguar IM, (International Maritime), which can carry the BAE Sea Eagle, is
powered by the Adour 804, (export version of the 104), and carries the capable Thompson-CSF/ESD Agave radar. Oman, Nigeria, and Ecuador were the other purchasers of the aircraft – Japan looked at Jaguar but
the proposed licence production deal did not progress due to a disagreement over royalty fees. There can be little doubt though that the influence of Jaguar was clear to see in the design of the indigenous Mitsubishi T-2.
The RAF was probably the customer that guided the true development of
Jaguar and it wasted no time proving itself in service and quickly supplanted the Phantom in the strike and reconnaissance roles. This freed the Phantom FGR.Mk2 for the air defence role, itself replacing the Lightning
which was coming to the end of its operational life. The first front-line Jaguar unit was No. 54 Squadron, which stood up on the 1st July 1974 at Lossiemouth. Shortly thereafter Coltishall became its operational base, and
as it was designated a NATO Regional Reinforcement Squadron its (Cold) war time base would have been Tirstrup in Denmark. Whilst Jaguar was a formidable and potent delivery system when first delivered to the RAF,
improvements could clearly be made. The Adour 102 was replaced with the 104, (more thrust again), an improved Ferranti FIN 1064 inertial nav. System, (memory of this weapons
delivery computer was four times the original NAVWASS – no less than 64K!), and aircraft with these upgrades, (circa 1983/84), were designated GR.Mk 1A and T.Mk 2A. RAF operators were No.II (Army Co
-operation) Squadron, No.14 Sq., No. 6 Sq., No.17 Sq., No. 20 Sq., No. 31 Sq., No. 41 Sq., No. 54 Sq., and JCT/226 OCU/No. 16 (Reserve) Squadron. As with all weapons systems there is always a political, economic,
and technological competitor waiting in the wings. MRCA became the Panavia Tornado and in January 1982 the Tornado entered service with the RAF. Tornado easily surpassed Jaguar in certain mission capabilities,
and by the end of 1988 only four Squadrons operated Jaguar.
Thus, when Operation Granby began in 1990/91, the Jaguar had 17 or 18
years of operational service under its belt, dependent on whether you were British or French. Rapid deployment saw No. 6 Squadron aircraft on station at Thumrait in Oman and then shortly after Muharraq in Bahrain, only
preceded in the RAF by Tornado F3’s. Jaguar had little to prove, but to the surprise of some, more than fulfilled what was asked of it. RAF missions totalled 618, Armée de l’air missions 600+. Serviceability of the aircraft was
exceeded by no other aircraft in the combat zone, and the only serious combat casualty resulted in a French aircraft being shipped home by cargo lift after a hit by a SAM. Adapting to the combat environment led to the
sensible incorporation of Jaguar International standard overwing AIM-9L launcher rails, AN/ALQ-101 jamming pod, and MATRA Phimat chaff pod – when the question of air superiority
over Iraq was resolved Jaguar pilots were “invited” to relinquish the overwing AIM-9L fit – no takers of the invitation have been recorded.
Following the first Gulf War there was a realisation that Jaguar could
extend its service life, (introduction of Eurofighter was delayed), and indeed this was completed successfully; through GR.Mk 1B, (Updated HUD, HOTAS – (Hands On Throttle And Stick), upgraded GPS, and TIALD – (Thermal
Imaging And Laser Designation), and then GR.Mk 3 and 3A, (uprated Adour Mk 106, Helmet Mounted Sight and glass cockpit,). Though perhaps specialised in its role these aircraft could perform their function as well as
any other aircraft in the RAF’s or any other air forces inventory – no mean accomplishment for a design stretching back to the early 1960’s. At this
time RAF Coltishall remained as the Jaguar base – and when relocation of the Jaguar contingent to RAF Coningsby was confirmed it was clear that the
Jaguar’s time in European skies was limited – French aircraft had already been retired in 2001. No. 6 and No. 41 Squadrons departed Coltishall in April 2006 and within thirteen months the flying career of the Jaguar had
been completed with the RAF – this came to some as a shock – the Jaguar was still more than combat capable and the taxpayer’s money expended on upgrades had actually created a more cost effective weapons platform.
Still, it is difficult to suppress the spirit of an aircraft that has quietly surpassed expectations throughout its service life and created the world’s first internationally delivered combat design, with a proven combat record and it is certainly still revered by the aircrew and ground crew associated with its service life. Perhaps its continued service at the hands of trainee engineers at DCAE, (Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering), Cosford in the heart of the English countryside proves that this is one design that refuses to submit to the whims of those who “decide”, and there is many an enthusiast who yearns for the sight of a “Jag” scorching the sky in reheat on a summer’s airshow afternoon.
Scott Fellows, CHK6 UK
Release 1.0/2010
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Release 1.0/2010
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