picture 179290

The first Mirage IIICZ arrived in South Africa in April 1963, serving with No. 2 (Cheetah) Squadron at AFB Waterkloof, in south Pretoria. It was the first supersonic fighter in SAAF service. A few years later, in 1965, No. 2 Squadron received the Mirage IIIEZ, an improved version of its predecessor. In 1974, Lisbon, fearing Zairean intervention in Portuguese-held Angola, requested that SAAF Mirages perform ‘intimidation flights’ over the Angola- Zaire border and the vulnerable Cabinda enclave. A South African Mirage detachment was scheduled to arrive in Angola on 29 April and return to South Africa on 3 May, but the April Revolution in Portugal led to the cancellation of all planned SAAF missions from Angolan bases. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)