I am sorry to have astonished Terry Crawford-Browne with what I thought were perfectly reasonable questions under the circumstances, but thank him for providing the information I requested (Israel is a global menace, June 19). Which brings us to the issue of "50 Cheetah fighter aircraft" SA apparently purchased from Israel (no dates given). A simple search on Wikipedia reveals the story of the development of the Israeli Kfir-modified French-built Dassault Mk 5 Mirage fighter jet, powered by the American General Electric J79 turbine engine. It is the same aircraft produced in SA by the then Atlas Aircraft Company (now Denel) but called the Cheetah. The Mirage jet fighter models 111, series C, D and E that SA had already purchased from France were used for the conversions, which took place in SA between 1983 and 1987. There is no record of any Mirage Kfir fighter jets being sold by Israel to SA, although a number were sold to the American, Colombian and Ecuadorian air forces in the la...
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