Despite being over 50 years old, the IAI Kfir remains in service today. While Israel had retired the fleet from active duty in the late 1990s and sent them off to museums for display and airports as gate guardians, the Kfir is still a compelling value-packed option for many overseas countries whose military budgets don’t allow for purchasing pricier, more advanced airframes. After all, it would certainly beat things like the oldest fighter jet still in service, the MiG-21.
Four customers for the jet stood out: Colombia, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, and even the U.S. For the latter, the Kfir was used as a simulated enemy fighter in the Navy’s prestigious Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (or TOPGUN) for a time, under the designation F-21A Lion.
Interestingly, in the 1990s, the state-owned IAI privately explored the possibility of modernizing the Kfir for the export market. This aircraft, planned to take on the new name IAI Nammer (“Leopard”), would have retained the same airframe as the Kfir. However, everything else, including the cockpit, avionics, and engine, would have been stripped out and replaced with more modern versions. Unfortunately, the project ultimately went nowhere and was canceled. So, unless something extraordinary occurs, the Kfir is likely to be the last of the Mirage 5s in Israeli service.
