I always figured that, while the Cheetah was derived from the Kfir, they were still different/semi parallel developments.
For the Kfir, its lineage goes: Mirage III → Mirage 5 → Mirage 50
↓ → IAI Kfir
And for the Cheetah, it’s: Mirage III → Mirage 5 → Mirage 50
↓ → Atlas Cheetah
Wouldn’t the Kfir and Cheetah be their own separate branch from their respective “sire” aircraft?
If I correctly recall, the Atlas Cheetah descends directly from the South African Mirage III, while the Kfir is more directly related to the Mirage V.
If you really want to get precise, the true descendants of the Mirage 50 are the Venezuelan Mirage 50EV/DV and the Chilean Mirage 50CN Pantera.
It’s either that or I’ve made an interpretation mistake because I’m seeing your post in the mobile version of the forum ahahaha
You know what? I’m kinda invested in this sorta genealogy of the Mirage III, I think I might do an “aircraft tree” of sorts once I get home.
Yeah, that’s what it was supposed to be. For some reason the spacing got all messed up when I posted.
For reference, the Kfir was supposed to be splitting off under the Mirage 5, the Cheetah was meant to be splitting off from the Mirage III
Ohhhh so it’s a formatting issue haha, no worries
Greetings Cheetah enjoyers, after a VERY GENEROUS AMOUNT OF INACTIVITY OF MY PART I’ve come to present more information in regards to our dearest feline, in this case, I’ve come to provide pictures, information, and a few insights regarding the Atlas Cheetah’s avionics, I hope the information presented will not only be useful, but also taken into consideration in the future when it comes to bug-reporting.
As always, I’ll take my sweet time properly citing every single aspect from this post, as some elements presented while true, have been provided through not properly cited means AKA someone shared it in a community or with me and forgot the source as well.
Up until now we can guarantee the existence of a radar and and tactical display, however, I’ve come to provide some extra pictures regarding these MFD modes, of course, the pictures will be numerous, as the CRT displays are exactly that: CRT, so not everything in the screen may be shown at once.
Now, as the suggestion post mentioned, there is (very likely) an HMDS system onboard the Atlas Cheetah, unfortunately I am still not sure which of the ones offered by Cumulus (a Kentron subsidiary company, now part of Denel Dynamics.) or Elbit Systems could or were equipped, for now I’ve been able to find THREE notable HMDS systems for contending this role:
I am certainly hopeful we can find more information on the Cheetah’s specific HMD, as I would, excuse the crude language up ahead, FUCKING HATE HAVING TO BE LIMITED TO THE SHITTY RUSSIAN HMS PLACEHOLDER.
Lastly, this HMDS upgrade appears to be exclusive to the SAAF, the FAE (Spanish for “Ecuadorian Air Force”) didn’t fly the Cheetahs with any HMDS according to several found pictures and footage provided on their official social media and website.
While looking at various promotional pieces by the Ecuadorian Air Force’s Official YouTube channel, I found this curious excerpt of a loading of a Python 4 missile, which goes to support my previous statements regarding the integration of this missile by the Ecuadorian Air Force as seen in the contracts.
Another relevant piece of information regarding the Python 4 onboard the Atlas Cheetah is the following excerpt from Revista Pucará Número 12:
“La Fuerza [Aérea Ecuatoriana] también tiene misiles Python IV, pero, si bien se han instalado en los aviones, no realizaron lanzamientos en los Cheetah, a pesar de que estaban en uso en los Kfir y Mirage F1.”
Translating to English:
“The Ecuadorian Air Force also has Python IV missiles, but, despite being installed in the aircraft, they haven’t made any launch trials with the Cheetah’s, considering they were also in use with their Kfir and Mirage F1.”
Taking into consideration the avionics shown we can pretty much do some safe assumptions:
These assumptions come from the following pictures and information found regarding these similar systems:
Author’s Note: For more information regarding the Kfir family of aircraft, please direct your attention to my forum thread where these and many more mentioned capabilities will be mentioned.
We can be certainly sure that the Kfir CE, Kfir C.2 and Atlas Cheetah share many avionics and capabilities due to their common Israeli origin and similar overhaul programs.
Due to these similarities I consider it could be possible to contribute findings and information using these alternative aircraft as source material, and which would hopefully mean that, in the near future, once the Atlas Cheetah is added, the Kfir C.2 / C.7’s HUD will be correctly implemented.
Lastly, I would like to encourage everyone to research more in regards to the HMDS’s present, specially the ones provided by Kentron, as the DASH III I’d say is already pretty well documented in the first place, and to research the Python 4 compatibility of the Atlas Cheetah.
[Fuerza Aérea ec] - Los legendarios Cazadores y su herencia
[Fuerza Aérea ec] - Escuadrón cazadores
Air Power Australia
Kentron Dynamics Website [Archived]
Direct Image Link:
Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana Website [Archived]
Direct Image Link:
Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana (Twitter)
Revista Vistazo
Noticiero Telediario (Twitter)
[Fuerza Aérea ec] - Escuadrón cazadores
Revista Pucará Número 12 | Page 35 - 36
Elbit Computers Stores Management System (SMS) | Page 2
[Leandro Gil] - El Mundo Segun Pirry Fuerza Aerea Colombiana 85 Años (06 de Noviembre de 2004)
[John Jairo] - Emergencia Kfir
[maquinagriz] - Kfir Aniversario No 30 Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana
[Fuerza Aérea ec] - Aniversario Escuadrón K-Fir 30 Años - FAE
Oh I forgot to also add this:
Middle UFCP is the same (or most likely of a similar series) UFCP mounted on the Atlas Cheetah, found on an El-Op (now an Elbit Systems subsidiary) company products brochure.
Source: El-Op Company Products Brochure
Greetings, I have some great news regarding the Atlas Cheetah and the Python IV compatibility I’ve talked about before in this very thread. As everyone might have read in my previous publications, I alleged the Python 4 missile was likely introduced to the Cheetah platform using contracts solicited by the FAE (Ecuadorian Air Force in Spanish), promotional videos of the FAE, and an issue of Pucará Defensa Magazine.
With further investigation I have found the following documents to further construct my idea;
The first document states the following interesting excerpt:
Translating from Spanish:
”Project Name:
Integration of the Python IV missile for the Cheetah aircraft”
Summary:
Practicality study of the of the Python IV missile aerodynamic impact within the Cheetah aircraft, practicality of software modification and system codification of test banks with new parameters”
Status:
Stopped due to authorization requirement for modifications and updates which don’t affect contract conditions of contract N 009-EE-J2-O-2013-GFAE, May 23rd, 2014”
Note: There seems to be a small typo on the official document submitted by the Ecuadorian Air Force, as you may know, there is no “Python VI”, likely an incorrectly written “Python IV” as seen in the later parts of the report.
While the second source reveals the following:
Translating from Spanish:
“… we are working on adapting the Python III and Python IV from the Kfir aircraft, to be implemented on the Cheetah in little time”
Note: Spanish speaking operators have this really weird way of spelling “Kfir”, Ecuador sometimes flip-flops between “Kfir”, “Kafir”, while colombia flip-flips between “Kfir” and “K-Fir”. Likely due to the castillanization of the israeli word into Spanish phonetics, still, very weird to see in official documentation
This would further cement the Python 4 as a viable arsenal consideration for the Atlas Cheetah, being confirmed both by the Ecuadorian government and Air Force, unfortunately halted by the conditions of the time.
+1 jet fighter
Greetings once more, Cheetah enjoyers, I’ve come around again to present further images regarding this amazing aircraft.
Hello, I was looking for photos of the Atlas Cheetah fleet in Ecuador and managed to find these images of the aircraft; however, I noticed something very interesting: there was a missile on the right weapon pylon that looked familiar—resembling the Python-4 due to its control surfaces and seeker, though I found it difficult to identify with certainty. While the images lack sharpness—having originated on social media—they serve as definitive confirmation of the physical integration of Python-4s onto the actual Atlas Cheetah C fleet. Given the operational timeline, the photos were likely taken during a base event between 2017 and 2019. This demonstrates beyond doubt that the integration process moved beyond ground testing and that the Cheetah C flew with operational Python-4 missiles during its service with the FAE. The Atlas Cheetah’s tail number is FAE-1377.
![Screenshot 2026-08-24 174307|810x397]
![Screenshot 2026-08-24 173905|1000x624]
The aircraft registration visible in the images is FAE-1377; the Ecuadorian Air Force reportedly used it to conduct flight tests for its Python-4 missiles.
The official website of the Ecuadorian Air Force, which showcases the capabilities of the Atlas Cheetah C during its operational service, displays a Python-4 missile used during a testing phase. This is the same aircraft bearing the same tail number FAE-1377 that appeared in the previous images.
These images come from a military ceremony involving aircraft technicians, officers, and pilots from Squadron 2112—known as the “Cazadores” at Taura Air Base. The photographs were published on Facebook in 2021 by the Ecuadorian Air Force’s official account, though they likely date back to earlier years—such as 2017 or 2019—when the Cheetahs were in better operational condition, given that they were permanently retired from service in 2021.
Links where I found these images:
]
It appears to be a Python 4, in any case, would Gaijin give us the Ecuadorian variant, the South African variant, or a mixture of both?
Furthermore, from what I’ve talked to people who talked to Ecuadorian technicians, the Python 4 seems to have been an incomplete integration.
Even according a contact that spoke to Chief of Maintenance during the Cheetah C fleet epoch, the “Python 4 was never a reality in the first place” (paraphrasal of course)
The silhouette of the control surfaces and fins reminded me too much of the Python-4. If that were the case, this would be the only image of the Atlas Cheetah C unequivocally carrying Python-4 missiles, although I remain skeptical about their integration into this aircraft; while its radar is technically compatible with these missiles, I also believe that armed forces tend to be very guarded regarding photographs of their weaponry. The few times advanced weaponry is displayed, it happens during very specific ceremonies or inside closed hangars, which limits access for aviation photographers. The Python-4 was most likely kept as a very strategic reserve deterrent, mounted on the Cheetahs only to verify the systems’ digital connection. But I still have a lot of doubts.
Could be one of the south african magic 2 derivatives, they too have a double front control surface arrangement
Yeah, the contracts though mostly point at it never being fully integrated, which is likely why there’s so few images of the mounted missile, and why FAE technicians describe it as negligible in the overall arsenal.
At least in WT it could pose as an interesting theoretical armament to have depending on what they follow.
So this would basically be a Kifr C10 analogue but with decent IR missiles it can equip but worse radar
Not quite, if anything the Cheetah gets the shorter end of the stick as the C.10 remained compatible with Derby, Python 4 and Python 5 (Colombian service) AAMs, while the Cheetah was mostly locked to the Python 3 and Derby exclusively.
Both the Cheetah C and initial versions of the C.10 equipped the EL/M-2032, so in terms of radar performance they’re the same.
Also, flight performance is difference, as the Cheetah C has smaller canards due to adapting a different engine than the Kfir’s J79.
cheaky 13.0 then
but also the difference is that atm it could be added with IR missiles that have actual IRCCM
In that aspect, yes, since I’m pretty sure Gaijin would likely copy-paste a Magic 2 and just rename it to “V3C” and call it a day.
The U-Darter however would be much more interesting to see modeled considering it has another type of IRCCM
Hello again. I was searching on Internet again for images of the Ecuadorian Atlas Cheetah and came across this one in a commemorative video from the Ecuadorian Air Force. The image is much sharper and clearer; I could see that it is carrying Python-4 missiles on its pylons. This suggests to me that the physical integration successfully passed the testing phase and that the missiles from the Kfir CE were transferred to the Cheetah, as they share a compatible radar. Despite the scarcity of images, this one surprised me—I had even thought the photos might be lost somewhere on the internet. It can be seen that the aircraft registration visible in the images is FAE-1377; reportedly, the Ecuadorian Air Force used it to conduct flight tests of its Python-4 missiles.
Since there were no live-fire military campaigns involving this missile on the Cheetah, opportunities to photograph it dropped drastically. Although I have already resolved my questions regarding its inherited arsenal. We have also confirmed its integration into the software; since it is integrated into the weapon pylons and has been pre-programmed to recognize Python-4 missile codes, it no longer feels like a merely theoretical concept.
The FAE-1377 is used primarily for the program integrating Python-4 missiles into the combat arsenal, serving to reprogram the software and ensure full operational capability of the missiles.
Fun fact:
The FAE-1377 was one of the Cheetah C aircraft that remained in service until November 8, 2021—among the last to fly—before their weapon systems were permanently retired in 2024.
I still long to see the Ecuadorian version of the game; it would be very interesting and fun to play, even if it might be a long-term prospect :D
Links where I got these images:
