Jaguar A

This page is about the French strike aircraft Jaguar A. For other versions, see Jaguar (Family).

Jaguar A

Super Etendard

Mirage 2000D-R1

Jaguar A

Super Etendard

Mirage 2000D-R1

France

VII Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
10.7	10.7	10.3

Class:

Strike aircraft

Research:300 000

Purchase:830 000

Description

The Jaguar programme began in the early 1960s, in response to a British requirement (Air Staff Target 362) and a French requirement (ECAT or École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique, "Tactical Combat Support Trainer") for a cheap, dual-role trainer and light attack aircraft to replace various obsolete subsonic aircraft filling that role. Cross-channel negotiations led Britain and France to form SEPECAT: Société Européenne de Production de l'Avion d'École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique – the "European company for the production of a combat trainer and tactical support aircraft". Almost all parts of the aircraft were jointly built by the two countries. For example, the powerplant was a partnership between Rolls-Royce and Turbomeca to develop the Adour afterburning turbofan engine, while the fuselage and wings were a partnership between Breguet and BAC, using the same basic configuration and an innovative French-designed landing gear and fuselage design, the Jaguar was built incorporating major elements of design from BAC, notably the wings and various control systems. In the end, the Jaguar program grew into more than just a trainer aircraft, and saw great export sales to foreign countries as a trainer, bomber, strike aircraft, and anti-shipping attacker. The Jaguar A variant was the single-seat, all-weather tactical strike and ground-attack fighter version for the French Air Force, with two prototypes and 160 production aircraft built.

The Jaguar A, introduced in Update "Raining Fire", is a deadly attacker for its battle rating available in the French tech tree. The Jaguar has high wing loading and suffers from greatly decreased manoeuvrability and speed when fully loaded with ordnance, however, it will often not be used in such a case in-game, instead being utilized as a support fighter in dedicated air battles with its abundant countermeasures and R.550 Magic 1 missiles combined with its nimble handling when unburdened. However, combined battles is where the Jaguar A really shines, being able to use a wide array of guided and unguided ordnance, chief of which are the powerful BGL-400/1000 series laser-guided bombs and AS-30L Nord laser-guided missiles.

General info

Flight performance

Arrestor gear

Accelerates braking by grabbing the brake cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Drogue parachute

Reduces braking distance when landing on any runway

Max speed

at 10 668 m1 490 km/h

Turn time30 s

Max altitude13 716 m

Engine2 х Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Limited Adour Mk.102

TypeJet

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight14 t

The SEPECAT Jaguar is a relatively small aircraft, with a relatively small wing surface area, yet it boasts two jet engines, each yielding nearly two tons of wet thrust. These characteristics give the Jaguar high agility and responsiveness, being able to engage turnfights if necessary. On the other hand, this small frame makes the Jaguar turn into a brick when loaded with bombs, even becoming so heavy it becomes very hard to take-off. The wings are of a swept design, and the Jaguar loses energy while turning only moderately, not being a BnZ fighter, but not being as bad as a Mirage IIIC or a J35D Draken. Overall it is a quite average fighter, while not loaded.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 10,668 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	1,464	1,453	13716	31.8	32.4	74.6	67.7	850
Upgraded	1,524	1,490		28.6	30.0	108.7	90.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
1,273	481	926	525	410	~12	~6

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 650	< 600	< 720	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass			Wing loading (full fuel)
Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Limited Adour Mk.102		2	7,616 kg			453 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)					Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		15m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	45m fuel	53m fuel
709 kg	Afterburning low-bypass turbofan		8,592 kg	8,838 kg	9,448 kg	10,365 kg	10,869 kg	13,500 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP)
Condition	100%	WEP	15m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	45m fuel	53m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	1,998 kgf	3,094 kgf	0.72	0.70	0.65	0.60	0.57	0.46
Optimal	2,242 kgf (200 km/h)	3,307 kgf (200 km/h)	0.77	0.75	0.70	0.64	0.61	0.49

Survivability and armour

Flares/Chaff

Aircraft countermeasures to distract IR and radar-guided missiles and also AA radar

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear481 km/h

The Jaguar A has no armour plating or armoured glass. The entire wings of the Jaguar A are made up of fuel tanks, along with most of the upper fuselage, with flight controls being exposed in the "spine" of the aircraft. The two engines take up a small amount of room in the very rear of the fuselage.

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB3 158 → 4 579

RB8 733 → 12 662

SB9 989 → 14 484

Total cost of modifications261 800

411 000

Talisman cost2 900

Crew training240 000

Experts830 000

Aces3 000

Research Aces1 140 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

90 / 320 / 600 %

238 / 238 / 238 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Compressor Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 340 New boosters Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 470 Wings repair Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 510 Engine Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 550	Fuselage repair Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 340 Airframe Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 470 G-suit Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 510 EFS Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 550 Cover Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 550	aden_belt_pack Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 340 Flares/Chaff Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 340 Matra JL-100R Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 340 ATLIS II Research: 8 800 Cost: 14 000 340 Type 25C Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 470 Matra LR F1 Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 470 BGL-400 Research: 12 000 Cost: 19 000 470 aden_new_gun Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 510 LR 100-4 Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 510 BGL-1000 Research: 13 000 Cost: 20 000 510 Type 21B Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 550 Matra R550 Magic 1 Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 550 AS30L Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 550

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)	CCRP (Bombs)

Offensive armament

The Jaguar A is armed with:

• A choice between two presets:
  • 2 x 30 mm DEFA 553 cannons, belly-mounted (150 rpg = 300 total)
  • 2 x 30 mm DEFA 553 cannons + 252 x countermeasures

Suspended armament

The Jaguar A can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

	1	2	3	4	5
250 kg SAMP Type 25 bombs	1	3	3	3	1
250 kg SAMP Type 25 200 bombs	1	3	3	3	1
400 kg SAMP Type 21 bombs	1	2	2	2	1
400 kg SAMP Type 21 200 bombs	1	2	2	2	1
400 kg BGL-400 bombs		1*		1*
970 kg BGL-1000 bombs		1*		1*
SNEB type 23 rockets	18, 36	36, 36		36, 36	18, 36
TBA ECC rockets	4	4		4	4
TBA Multi-Dart 100 AB rockets	4	4		4	4
AS-30L Nord missiles		1*		1*
Matra R550 Magic 1 missiles	1				1
ATLIS II targeting pod			1*
1,200 l drop tanks		1	1	1
* The ATLIS II pod must be carried when equipping guided air-to-ground ordnance

Default weapon presets

3 x 1,200 l drop tanks 2 x Matra R550 Magic 1 missiles 11 x 250 kg SAMP Type 25 bombs (2,750 kg total) 11 x 250 kg SAMP Type 25 200 bombs (2,750 kg total) 8 x 400 kg SAMP Type 21 bombs (3,200 kg total) 8 x 400 kg SAMP Type 21 200 bombs (3,200 kg total) 2 x 400 kg BGL-400 bombs (800 kg total) 2 x 970 kg BGL-1000 bombs (1,940 kg total) 2 x AS-30L Nord missiles 16 x TBA ECC rockets 16 x TBA Multi-Dart 100 AB rockets 108 x SNEB type 23 rockets 144 x SNEB type 23 rockets

The sets of bombs are the heaviest ordnances for the aircraft, but ensure a good supply of CAS support capability, even though bombing runs in combined battles are risky at these BRs.

The most exotic loadout mounted by the Jaguar A is the TBA Multi-Dart 100 AB rocket. This rocket is a hypersonic, sub-munition-carrying vessel, with each rocket carrying six darts, and reaching 1,400 m/s, or Mach 4.2. Each dart is in fact a small kinetic penetrator, each being able to penetrate 80 mm of flat armour, and relying only on fragmentation of armour for post-penetration damage. While these darts cannot pierce the front (or even side) hull of a modern MBT, it will pierce its roof without problems, and the rocket's speed and number of darts gives the possibility of top attacks from a safe distance with extreme precision when used alongside CCIP.

Usage in battles

The Jaguar A's only air-to-air missiles are locked as a rank 4 modification. The entirety of its opposition will be carrying both IR and semi-active radar missiles, although IR missiles will be the main source of induced headaches. Once these missiles are researched, the Jaguar becomes a force to be reckoned with, and it becomes possible to engage enemy aircraft who are preoccupied in a dogfight or happen to fly in front of you. The bomb/rocket load of the Jaguar A is decent, and bombing bases and key targets is definitely a good way to acquire Research Points and Silver Lions. Carrying a hybrid air-to-air and air-to-ground load is a good compromise, retaining adequate ground pounding capabilities while acquiring self-defence capabilities.

It is a good tactic to let pure fighters go in front. You can try to gain altitude to have some energy as a safety net in case someone tries to engage you in a dogfight, or stay low to sneak past enemy aircraft to strike ground targets or an enemy base. It is to be noted that if one chooses to do the former, on most maps contrails will form at approximately 5800 meters in altitude. As such, if climbing, to not give your position away staying just below this altitude may be preferable. That way, the Jaguar will not be directly on the front lines, and will be able to expend its bomb load and attempt to help friendly fighters with its missiles. The Jaguar cannot face aircraft such as a MiG-21, F-5, Mirage IIIC or even a Phantom II and be expected to win if its opponents play their cards right. Overall, the aircraft fares better as a support aircraft.

In Combined battles, many CAS options are available, be it the SAMP bombs, SNEB rockets, or Multi-Dart rockets. Remaining at a safe distance and avoiding incoming missiles while selecting a target, then pointing it swiftly for a top attack with one or more Multi-Dart rockets seems to be an adequate usage of these weapons. It can be decided to abandon the air-to-air missiles to carry more ordnance, that is a choice of attack paradigm each player must make. The player can also choose to equip the guided bombs and targeting pod, to accurately target enemy anti-aircraft vehicles from a safe distance or to take care of enemy players holed up in hard-to-take-out positions, aiding your teammates.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Small frame, hard to hit with guns
• Nimble and agile while not loaded
• Carries two highly capable Matra R550 Magic 1 missiles
• Carries an exotic weapon for CAS, which players are not used to facing
• Has a Head-Up Display in the cockpit which provides flight information and weapon aiming functionality
• Very effective TBA Multi-Dart 100 AB rockets containing an array of six sub-calibre darts, each a small kinetic penetrator capable of piercing 80 mm of armour
• Has a very large number of countermeasures, giving it very good and extended defensive capabilities
• Has the ability to use guided bombs, letting the aircraft stay at a safe distance from enemy anti-aircraft vehicles in Combined Battles.

Cons:

• Mediocre speed
• Punitive modification grind, especially for the Matra R550 Magic 1s at Tier 4.
• Basically a barely flying anvil when fully loaded with bombs
• No radar (and thus no radar guided missiles)
• Bleeds speed excessively while maneuvering, often making dogfighting a challenge

History

The Jaguar A was the French variant of the SEPECAT Jaguar, developed jointly by France and the United Kingdom. The first prototype flew in late 1968, fitted with the Adour engine. The aircraft later flew at the Paris Air Show in 1969, and the further developed Jaguar A prototype, improved and designed for French service, flew in March of that year. After the commencement of production, the French Air Service accepted the first Jaguar A in December 1973, one of an eventual 160 Jaguar A aircraft that would serve with the Air Service. As well, the Air Ministry procured 40 additional Jaguar E trainers, to help train pilots for the Jaguar A.

A French Jaguar A in the camouflage it wore during the Gulf War.

The aircraft was able to carry an AN-52 nuclear bomb; however, the aircraft never served with the French strategic nuclear force, as the role had been taken by the Mirage IV. The aircraft was immediately pressed into service defending national interests in Africa, a mission sometimes referred to as "Jaguar Diplomacy". Thus, Jaguars had their combat debut fighting rebels in Mauritania. The aircraft also flew in the Chad-Libya conflict and in the Central African Republic. During its time in African-theatre service, the Jaguar gained a reputation for being a highly effective ground attacker; Libyan forces frequently tried to sabotage the Jaguars stationed in Chad due to their effectiveness against ground targets.

Later on, Jaguars served in the Gulf War and the 1999 Kosovo conflict. The aircraft flew 615 sorties in the Gulf War, and one aircraft was lost to an Iraqi SAM. The plane was frequently used to destroy Iraqi convoys, naval vessels and Scud missile sites. The aircraft also performed a valuable reconnaissance role, providing aerial photography and intelligence for the NATO forces. The Jaguars went on to serve until 2005 when they were replaced in the ground-attack role by the Dassault Rafale.

Devblog

In the early 1960s, both Great Britain and France were looking into procuring a new jet trainer for their respective air forces. Despite differences in specifications and requirements, the two nations were united in their pursuit for such a new aircraft, thus leading to an agreement being signed in 1965 which would kick off development of what would eventually become the Jaguar.

The Jaguar was being developed under a specially formed consortium of British and French aviation companies, namely Bréguet and BAC, called SEPECAT (you can look up what the acronym stands for on your own - we promise you won't be disappointed though). Continuing with the theme of joint projects, Rolls-Royce and Turbomeca also joined forces to develop a new turbofan engine - the Adour - for the new aircraft.

The first of eight prototypes of the Jaguar successfully conducted its maiden flight in September of 1968. Following the conclusion of further testing, the Jaguar went into production in two major variants - the Jaguar A being the modification used by the French Air Force and the Jaguar S (Jaguar GR.1) being the variant employed by the RAF. Both variants of the machine entered production in the early 1970s, with the first production models being delivered in 1973/'74.

The Jaguar primarily served with France and Great Britain, most notably distinguishing itself in action during the Gulf War of the 1990s. However, Ecuador, Nigeria and Oman also operated modifications of the Jaguar, while India still operates the Jaguar to this day. In total over 540 SEPECAT Jaguars were built.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Jaguar A from live.warthunder.com.

Images

• Jaguar A Devblog Images
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Videos

The Shooting Range #221 - Metal Beasts section at 00:28 discusses the Jaguar A.

See also

• F-1
• T-2

External links

• [Devblog] SEPECAT Jaguar: Raining Fire

SEPECAT
Jet fighters	Jaguar A · Jaguar E · Jaguar GR.1 · Jaguar GR.1A · Jaguar IS*
	SEPECAT was a joint venture between BAC (later BAe) and Bréguet (later merged with Dassault). Production were split between the two manufacturers. *Built by BAe and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).