1/48 Franklin Mint/Armour (B11E775) Dassault Mirage IIIC (159) Yom Kippur War (13 Kills) , 101st Sqdn "Tayeset", Israeli Air Force 1973 (Limited Edition)

Dassault Mirage III - #159, Re-acquired from Argentina

This aircraft is one of two Mirage IIICJs credited wi th 13 kills. It was delivered in 1962 to the 101st Tayeset Ha’Krav Ha’Rishona (First Fighter Squadron). On December 14, 1966, flown by Yoram Agmon, the jet was the first to record a kill by a Mirage in the world. Further kills followed quite quickly, so that by 1970, there was a total of eleven. At the time, the plane still flew in a natural metal finish, as delivered by the manufacturer, and there were ten kill marks painted under the cockpit. The last two kills came in 1973, one on September 13th, and the other on October 6th on the first day of the Yom Kippur War. On the next day, the plane was severely damaged in an aborted take-off by Israel Baharav, who was injured in the incident. In 1982, it was sold to Argentina. In 2003, the aircraft was sold back to Israel.

In 1973, Egypt and Syria staged a sneak attack on Israel during the holy day of Yom Kippur. The two front attack was initially a success for the Arabs, however 4 days later their progress was stopped cold. Israel counter-attacked and pushed the Arabs back to within 60 miles of Cairo and Damascus. Dassault Mirage IIIC Israeli Defense Force, 101st Tayeset (Squadron) "Yom Kippur War" Hatzor Air Base, Israel October 6-25 1973.  The History behind the Plane The war began with a massive and successful Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canal during the first three days, after which they settled into a stalemate. The Syrians coordinated their attack on the Golan Heights to coincide with the Egyptian offensive and initially made threatening gains against the greatly outnumbered Israelis. Within a week, Israel recovered and launched a four-day counter-offensive, driving deep into Syria. To relieve this pressure, the Egyptians went back on the offensive, but were decisively defeated; the Israelis then counterattacked at the seam between two Egyptian armies, crossed the Suez Canal, and advanced southward and westward in over a week of heavy fighting. By October 24, the Israelis had improved their positions considerably and completed their encirclement of Egypt's Third Army. At the conclusion of hostilities, Israeli forces were 25 miles from Damascus and 62 miles from Cairo. Israeli Forces punctured farther into Egyptian and Syrian territory than in the Six-Day War. The Mirage IIIC was armed with twin 30 mm DEFA revolver-type cannon, fitted in the belly with the gun ports under the air intake. Early Mirage IIIC production had three stores pylons, one under the fuselage and one under each wing, but another outboard pylon was quickly added to each wing, for a total of five. The outboard pylon was intended to carry an AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile, later replaced by the Matra Magic. The Delta winged Mirage was the first fighter aircraft that could fly at Mach 2 and for a decade it was the premier fighter in Europe and the Middle East. 

Franklin Mint Armour Collection 1:48 B11E775 Dassault Mirage III Diecast Model IDF/AF 101st (1st Combat) Sqn, Hatzor AB, Israel The Dassault Mirage III is a supersonicfighter aircraft designed in France by Dassault Aviation during the 1950s, and manufactured both in France and a number of other countries. It was a successful fighter aircraft, being sold to many air forces around the world and remaining in production for over a decade. Some of the world's smaller air forces still fly Mirage IIIs or variants as front-line equipment today, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Gabon, Libya, Pakistan (largest operator), and Venezuela ,Israel ·