Canadian Vampire F.3 This was Canada's first jet aircraft which was bought from Britain after World War II. They equipped several RCAF squadrons starting in 1948, but were soon replaced by the Sabre 2. Vampires remained in service with auxiliary squadrons until 1957. Use Desert Falcons Vampire card but delete all stations, reduce maximum speeds in LO to MH bands by 0.5 and all climbs= 0.5. F-5 Plus It seems Israel agrees with J.D. concerning future fighter trends (see AP#9). Not only are they upgrading their Phantoms but they are offering and selling upgrade kits for F-5s to other countries. Israel doesn't operate the F-5 but it does have a respected and capable avionics industry which has put together the upgrade package. So far, the F-5 Plus has been ordered by Chile, and Singapore is considering itas well. Chile will upgrade its twelve surviving F-5Es and two F-5Fs to Plus standards with kits supplied by the IAI's Bedek Aviation division. Use the standard F-5E data card with the following changes: Radar Elta EL/M2032B, arcs= 180+, Search= 120/30, Track= 90/30, Lock-On= 8. ECM: DDS-B, DJM-A, RWR-B. Technology: Add Laser spot tracker, Look-Down radar, HUD Interface, IR uncage, and HMS (die roll 5 or less). Allowed loads addition: Python IRMs on stations 1,7. Tornado ECR Variant The Tornado Electronic Combat and Reconnaissance model is identical in most respects to the Tornado IDS version and still retains most weapons carrying abilities. The ECR version differs in the following manners. Internal Gun: Delete. ECM: RWR=D, DJM=B, AJM=B. Technology: Add TV/IR optics. Stations 2,4: May carry two AIM-9, ASRAAM, or SIDEARMS in addition to other stores. Stations 2,4,6,7: May carry AGM-88 ARM. MB-326 The MB-326 card in Air Strike is correct but incomplete and in my quest for perfection I have drawn up a list of the major versions and how they differ in Air Sup. ternis. The B,EF and H models are trainers with a secondary light attack capability. The Australian Navy used them for naval attacks. The GB was the main export light attack version. Brazil's Embraer company produced it as the AT-26 Xavante, and it was produced in South Africa as the Impala 1. The K and L models are modern light attack and trainer versions respectively. South Africa produced a version of the K model with their own engines called the Impala II. The basic MB-326 card can be used with the following revisions for each listed variant. Type Power Fuel/Crew/Gun Notes 326B-H 1.0,0.5,0.5 200/two/None No IRMAGs. 326GB* 1.0,1.0,1.0 200/two/None - 326K 1.5,1.0,1.0 240/one/2x30mm None 326L 1.5,1.0,1.0 240/two/None No IRMAGs. Impala II 1.0,1.0,1.0 240/one/2x30mm None *Argentine variant may carry Pescador ASMs. I also have the following list of users compiled: MB-326B/E/F/H= Italy, Tunisa, Ghana, Australia. MB-326GB/Impala I/Xavante= Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, South Africa, Togo, Zaire, Zambia. MB-326K= Ghana, Tunisia, U.A.E., Zaire. MB-326L= Tunisia, U.A.E. Impala II= South Africa. Back to Table of Contents -- Air Power # 14 Back to Air Power List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by J.D. Webster This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com