The Scourge Of The South Atlantic

Historical Background

The Super Étendard can trace its origins in two early 1950s requirement for light fighters; one for the Armee de l'Air and the other for NATO air forces. Avions Marcel Dassault used the same basic design for the two requirements, designated Étendard II and Étendard VI (originally Mystere XXVI) respectively. The latter fared well in test flights but was outperformed by Aeritalia's G.91 which was eventually declared the winner. The Marine Nationale however expressed interest which led to Dassault constructing a navalised prototype. Sufficiently satisfied with the performance, it was ordered into production, totalling 69 Étendard IVM fighter-bombers and 21 Étendard IVP reconnaissance versions. In the 1970s, the Étendard IVM was to be replaced by a navalised version of the Anglo-French SEPECAT Jaguar, the Jaguar M. The project was however stalled by political problems and issues raised during carrier trials. In 1973 the project was cancelled and alternatives were sought, including the A-7 Corsair II and A-4 Skyhawk. Marcel Dassault also offered his company's proposal - the Super Étendard. (It was alleged that Dassault played a significant part in the cancellation of the Jaguar M).

The Super Étendard was essentially an improved Étendard IVM with a more powerful engine, a new wing and improved avionics. The engine chosen was non-afterburning version of the SNECMA Atar 9K-50 turbojet (designated 8K-50) of 11,025 lb thrust. It was fitted with a multi-function Thomson-CSF Agave radar used in conjunction with the AM.39 Exocet anti-ship missile and a UAT-40 central computer. Dassault's proposal was accepted in 1973 with the first prototype, an Étendard IVM fitted with the new wings, engine and avionics first flew on 28 October 1974. First deliveries of the type was made in June 1978. In the 1990s, upgrades were made to the type by installing a UAT-90 computer and replacing the Agave radar with the same company's Anemone radar. The cockpit was redesigned with HOTAS controls and airframe lifetime extension work was undertaken. In the 2000s, further improvements were made, including better self-defence ECM, cockpit compatibility with night-vision devices, new inertial navigation system incorporating GPS and compatibility with the Damocles laser designator pod. The Super Étendard can also carry nuclear weapons; originally free-fall bombs such as the AN52. The 1990s upgrades also included the ability to launch the ramjet-powered ASMP (Air-Sol Moyenne Portee) supersonic cruise missile.

The Super Étendard began to be delivered to the Aeronavale in 1978, with the first squadron, Flotille 11F becoming operational in February 1979. The French aircraft began to be replaced by Dassault Rafale M in 2006 and are expected to be fully retired in 2016. Argentina became the first export customer when it decided to purchase 14 aircraft in 1979 when the United States embargoed weapons sales to them and withheld replacement parts for Argentina's A-4 Skyhawk fleet. Five aircraft together with five AM.39 Exocets were delivered to Argentina between August and November 1981. Delivery of further aircraft was put on hold by France during the Falklands War and thus just five of the new aircraft can be deployed, together with five Exocets. Full delivery was completed in 1984. The Argentinian Super Étendards were supposed to be operated from the carrier ARA 25 de Mayo but problems with the catapult and engines meant that the aircraft were mainly operated from land bases. Iraq was the last export customer, receiving five loaned aircraft in 1983 while waiting the delivery of Agave radar-equipped Mirage F.1EQs. They were returned to France in 1985.

The Super Étendard was first blooded in combat by the Argentine Navy's Comando de Aviacion Naval Argentina during the Falklands War. They are based at Rio Grande airbase in Tierra del Fuego and represented the greatest threat to the British that a number of infiltration missions were planned in order to destroy them. On 2 May 1982, the first attempt to attack the British Task Force was made but was abandoned due to inflight-refuelling system problems. On 4 May 1982, two aircraft, guided by a Lockheed P-2 Neptune maritime patrol aircraft launched one Exocet each at the Type 42 guided-missile destroyer HMS Sheffield. One of the missiles hit her causing massive fires. HMS Sheffield sank on 10 May 1982 after foundering in high seas. On 25 May, another attack by a pair of Super Étendards sank the container ship SS Atlantic Conveyor. Ironically, the Atlantic Conveyor was hit by the missiles as a result of countermeasures taken by other ships in the area. The loss of the Atlantic Conveyor was more significant, especially from a logistical point of view, than HMS Sheffield, as she was carrying supplies and also six Westland Wessex and five Boeing Chinook helicopters, which were to be used in the advance from Goose Green to Port Stanley. All the helicopters were lost in the fires except for a single Chinook. 

On 22 September 1983, French Super Étendards from the carrier Foch bombed Syrian positions in Lebanon when French peacekeepers were fired upon by artillery. On 17 November 1983, the French attacked a militia camp in Baalbeck in retaliation to attacks against French paras in Beirut. The next conflict where the Super Étendards took part was Operation Allied Force over Serbia in 1999 when they flew 400 sorties with 73% success rate - the best among the air forces taking part in the operation. The Super Étendards onboard the Charles de Gaulle were also active over Afghanistan during Operation Heracles in 2001 and Operation Anaconda. Apart from carrying out attacks, they were also used to designate targets for Rafale M fighters. In March 2011, they were again deployed as part of Operation Harmattan during the Libyan conflict. Iraqi Super Étendards were used against Iranian merchant shipping in the Persian Gulf and also against tankers carrying Iranian crude oil. Iran claimed shooting down three of the Super Étendards but France claimed four of them were returned by Iraq when the loan ended in 1985.

The Kit 

The Academy kit of the Super Etendard was released in 1988. Although I thought this was another of Academy's reboxing of a Hobbycraft kit, a search on the Scalemates website showed that this kit is a reboxing of a 1983 kit from Sunny - admittedly a very obscure company, which I have never heard of. The kit came in 54 medium grey parts, spread among three sprues and four clear parts plus the usual decal sheet. despite the age of the moulding, the quality of the parts are good - just a few flash that can be easily scraped off with a sharp hobby knife. The panel lines are of the recessed type and look fine. The cockpit however is more than spartan, with no detail for the instrument and side panels, not even in the shape of decals. The kit also did not have the troughs for the 30mm cannons. The clear parts include two canopies, for those who want to have theirs in the open position. The ordnance option reflected the aircraft's most known role as Exocet carrier - an Exocet, a 1100-liter fuel tank, two 600-liter fuel tanks and a pair of Matra R.550 Magic missiles. A typical Academy decal sheet was provided, featuring markings for :

- '7', Flotille 11F, Aeronavale, carrier Clemenceau;

- '3-A-201', 2 Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque, 3 Escuadra Aeronaval, Comando Aviacion Naval Argentina, Falklands War

Extra numbers were provided to build any of the five Argentinian aircraft during the Falklands War but in reality, apart from 3-A-201, only 3-A-202 can be made from the kit as only tail number 0752 was included. By the way, the boxtop illustration was somewhat misleading as it showed 3-A-202 with ship silhouettes, although none were provided on the decal sheet.

Construction

Before starting, I must say that the construction steps were fairly short - just five and it occupies one side of an A4-sized sheet. Anyway, as usual, construction started at the cockpit. The cockpit is very spartan consisting of just a plain tub, a plain instrument panel, a control stick and a simplified bang seat. At first I thought of replacing the kit seat with a Neomega resin Martin Baker Mk4. While the seat fit nicely into the tub, when I test-fit the cockpit tub to the fuselage, the seat sat too high. I ended up using the kit seat. Academy also did not indicate the colour of the cockpit - I have to browse the internet looking for pictures of the cockpit and decided to paint it flat black. Flat White dots and circles were painted on the instrument panel to represent dials as there aren't any decals provided or relief details engraved. The fuselage halves were then closed with the cockpit in-between them. The exhaust can was painted Burnt Iron before being cemented to the fuselage and this was followed by the lower half of the fuselage.

The wing halves were mated to each other and cemented onto the fuselage. This was followed by the horizontal stabilisers. The intake splitter plates and the forward part of the intake fairing were the last parts fitted before painting. By the way, Academy provided the IFR probe in the deployed position. However if one chose to pose it so, a groove should be cut in the fairing in front of the nose as the centre section of the fairing formed part of the probe assembly.

Painting and Decaling 

I decided to finish my Super Etendard in Argentinian colours, being probably the most famous user of the Super Etendard/Exocet combo. Anyway, there wasn't actually any difference between the French and Argentinian options as they were both painted blue-grey and white. The lower colour was painted using Tamiya XF-2 Flat White and the upper colour XF-24 Dark Grey. For the markings, I chose the markings for 3-A-201 simply because I don't have to cut numerals 1 from the decals and replace them with 2. Perhaps I should, as 3-A-201 did not take part in the attacks of 4 and 25 May (the attacks were carried out by 3-A-202 together with 3-A-203 and 3-A-204 respectively).

As expected, the decals behave as any other typical Academy decals. Mr Mark Softer, generally regarded by modellers as the most potent decal softening solution, failed to make any impression. In addition, some of the decals were off-register, especially for the 2 Escuadrilla badge. To add further insult, Academy had the colours of the badge and the Argentinian flag on the rudder wrong. For the latter, the colour is of course right, but the blue is of the wrong tone. I fixed that by painting the rudder a roughly 60:40 mixture of X-14 Sky Blue and XF-2 Flat White. The white part of the decal was cut from the rest and applied in the usual manner. For the squadron badge, I had to leave the registry problem as it was. I then used the tiniest brush I have to repaint the cartoon eagle's body with Gunze Aqueous FS34227 light green. It may or may not match the actual colour, but it was way better than the original blue!

Finishing 

Once the painting and decaling were done, the fiddly stuff and external stores can be added. The landing gear was painted silver and so were the wheel wells and the inside of the gear doors. For the external fuel tank, I chose the larger 1,100-liter tank. For the ordnance, I used the Exocet from Heller's weapons set. The kit Exocet is actually OK but I used Heller's as it came with stencil decals. Finally the pitot tubes on the nose are cemented onto the model. I then subjected the model to a sludge wash and sprayed Semi-Gloss Clear paint to finish the build.

Conclusion 

Academy kits, especially those of Hobbycraft origins have nice details generally but many areas were overly simplified (such as the cockpit) or totally missing (the cannons). For the Super Etendard kit, you definitely need replacement PE and/or resin parts to replace the missing details. Otherwise you have to find the Heller kit or scratchbuild the details. The decals were also terrible, being off register and having the wrong colours in addition to the usual Academy decal problems. Nevertheless it is buildable and with TLC can be made into a great-looking model. Academy re-released the kit in 2012 as 'Super Etendard Libya 2011'. Apart from the decals, the plastic were the same with the original release. Worse, the weapons also remain the same and made one wonder if the Libyan government used warships on land against the NATO-supported rebels as the main offensive weapon on the sprue was that single Exocet!

Shar - La Muerta Negra del Atlantico Sur

Historical Background

Following the 1957 Defence White Paper, which advocated a policy shift from manned aircraft to missiles, the majority of aircraft program in Britain was cancelled. Hawker Aircraft Ltd however quickly move on to a new project stimulated by Air Staff Requirement 345, which sought a vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft for the RAF. Designed Hawker P.1127 Kestrel, Hawker worked closely with Bristol Engine Company and used a vectoring thrust turbofan system, called Pegasus to achieve V/STOL capability. Hawker then developed a more advanced aircraft, the P.1154, but this was cancelled by the Labour Government in 1964. The RAF then considered a more austere upgrade to the Kestrel. An order for 60 of this aircraft, named Harrier GR.1 was received in 1967 and it entered service in April 1969.

At the same time, the Royal Navy also entered a period of austerity. In 1966, the Labour government cancelled the projected CVA-01 aircraft carrier, signalling the end of conventional fixed-wing aircraft operations by the Royal Navy (which finally ended in 1978 when the last conventional carrier, HMS Ark Royal, was retired). However an alternative concept for British naval aviation emerged in the early 1970s when the so-called 'through-deck cruisers' were ordered. In reality small aircraft carriers, they were given the TDC designation to avoid hostile response from the government who was anti-aircraft carrier in those days. Named Invincible-class, a 7° ski-jump (in Invincible and Illustrious, 12° in Ark Royal) were added to allow the operation of V/STOL aircraft (a 12° ski-jump was also retrofitted to the commando carrier HMS Hermes). Hawker Siddeley (later absorbed into British Aerospace) designed a navalised Harrier to serve on those ships. Named Sea Harrier FRS.1 (Fighter/Reconaissance/ Strike - the Sea Harrier or 'Shar' was expected to fulfil all three roles), it was based on the Harrier GR.3. Parts made from materials vulnerable to saltwater corrosion were substituted with corrosion resistant alloys or were protected. The cockpit was raised, with bubble-type canopy for better visibility. Radar was added in the shape of Ferranti Blue Fox multi-mode radar. The prototype was first flown on 20 August 1978 and was operational with No.800 Squadron on board HMS Invincible (later transferred to HMS Hermes in March 1980)

When the British decided to respond to the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands Islands, the 20 Sea Harriers (later augmented by 8 more Shars and 14 RAF Harrier GR.3) on board HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible were the only carrier-borne fixed wing combat aircraft available. Outnumbered, and operating in adverse conditions, the Sea Harriers performed fleet defence and also offensive actions against ground targets on the islands. They also had to operate without the benefit of airborne early warning aircraft, resulting in less than complete air superiority. The British however enjoyed better training for their pilots and employed the all-aspect AIM-9L Sidewinder, which was nicknamed 'Nine-Lima'. The Sea Harrier, although slower than the Argentinian Mirage IIIs and Daggers, was more maneuverable. 20 Argentinian aircraft were shot down for the loss of zero Sea Harriers. However two were shot down by ground fire and another four in accidents. The Argentinian pilots colloquially called the Sea Harriers La Muerta Negra or 'The Black Death'.

The Sea Harrier was given an update in 1984 as FRS.2 (later redesignated FA.2). First flown in September 1988, 31 FRS.1 aircraft were upgraded to FA.2 standard and 18 were built from scratch. The FA.2 standard includes a new radar, the Ferranti Blue Vixen, Pegasus Mk106 engine, increased range, increased weapons load (including the ability to fire AIM-120 AMRAAM) and improved cockpit displays. The Sea Harrier continued to serve during Operations Deny Flight, Deliberate Force and Allied Force over the Balkans. The Sea Harrier was finally retired in 2006. India, the only export operator of the Sea Harrier (as Sea Harrier FRS.51), still operates them, at least until 2015.

The Kit

Italeri's 1/72 Sea Harrier FRS.1 is actually a reboxed ESCI kit (originally released in 1983). The kit was laid out in four sprues. Sprue 1 is the forward fuselage plus some smaller parts, sprues 2 to 3 contains the rest of the plane and sprue 4 consists of the clear parts. The panel lines are very fine, in fact, even light sanding can erase them off! The cockpit is lightly detailed and the ejection seat really need to be substituted. Like many 1/72 planes, the instrument panel simply consists of decals with flat plastic part. The kit suffered from various ejector pin marks; the worst are at the landing gear legs. External stores consists of two Sidewinders, two ADEN 30mm  gun pods and two drop tanks (modelers who wished to build an Indian Navy Shar have to search elsewhere for Matra R.550 Magics used by Indian Shars). Decals were provided for three aircraft: No.801 Squadron, HMS Invincible 1982 (post-Falklands markings); No.700A Squadron, NAS Yeovilton 1979 and No.300 Squadron, INS Vikrant 1982.

Construction

The highly simplistic cockpit, which consist of the (plain) tub, control column, instrument panel and seat got the first attention. There were just two lumps on the cockpit floor pretending to be rudder pedals. The side consoles and the instrument panel came the form of decals. Not that bad really but there should be at least some raised details to represent the dials and instruments. The cockpit tub and the dashboard was painted Light Ghost Grey (FS36375) using Gunze Aqueous, with the 'rudder pedals' painted Silver. The side console and instrument panel decals were then applied once the paint is dry. The hideous Martin Baker Mk10 ejection seat was then painted according to instructions and then sticked to its place (I intend to replace it with resin seat, so I dab just enough glue for it to remain in place, yet can still be easily pulled out for replacement). The cockpit was then sandwiched between the front fuselage halves.

The next step was concerned with the main fuselage. The main landing gear (less the wheels) was painted and stuck to one side of the fuselage. The engine consists of just one flat plastic part with a rather respectable compressor blades detail. The detail was painted silver and the rest of that part was painted white. The speed brake housing was also installed and the fuselage can be closed up. Afterwards, the front fuselage, vertical tail, horizontal stabilisers, intakes and the tailcone were attched to the fuselage. Italeri had the auxiliary intake doors moulded in the shut position whereas the real thing are open whenever the engine is shut off or during vertical hover. At the same time, I glued the speed brake shut - the real deal is open whenever the landing gears are down! I leave off fitting the exhaust nozzles but fit the rear exhaust heat shields.

Next, the wings which consisted of one-piece upper and two-piece lower. No problems here except I opted to fit the outrigger wheels and the pylons at a later time. For the lower fuselage, Italeri provided an option whether to fit Aden 30mm cannon pods or underfuselage strakes. I opted for the cannon pods. At this point I paused the assembling process and jumped to the painting stage.

Painting and Decaling

I decided earlier on to finish my model in the first option - a No. 801 Squadron machine off HMS Invincible in 1982. Admittedly, this was a rather boring colour scheme, in overall Dark Sea Grey with monocolour markings, but, hey, it was easy! The DSG was painted using Tamiya XF54 Dark Sea Grey and the radome was painted XF1 Flat Black. The still unattached parts were also painted at this time. The forward exhausts (known as 'cold' exhausts) were originally painted Gunze 61 Burnt Iron but later I decided to paint them Dark Sea Grey. Next, the decaling. There aren't any issues here - Italeri decals are thin, opaque and respond well to Mr Mark Softer. This stage went smoothly plus there aren't that many stencil decals. The very sharp but shallow engraved panel lines somewhat deterred my usual sludge wash technique so I resorted to 2B pencil. The sludge wash was only done on the flaps and ailerons.

Finishing

The remaining parts can now be attached to the model. The exhaust nozzles were first, attached in the vertical position. Next were the wing pylons. Italeri however provided minimal option for weapons load - just two drop tanks and two Sidewinders. I intended for this model to have the twin Sidewinder rails and I do have the the twin rail launchers but they were not of the same type used on Sea Harriers. So I dropped off the idea and just use the kit's single rail. I however used AIM-9Ls from Hasegawa's weapon set as the kit Sidewinders look more like the earlier AIM-9B. I laso found a BL755 cluster bomb in my stash and I placed it at the underfuselage pylon in-between the cannon pods. The wheels were then attached to the landing gears fllowed by the forward landing gear doors. Italeri's instructions had the doors in the open poistion but photos show that they are closed once the landing gears were down, so I glued them in the closed position. Finally, the most vulnerable parts were glued on, but the yaw vane became the victim of the Carpet Monster. A spray of Tamiya TS-79 Semi-Gloss Clear finished the build.

Conclusion

Italeri's 1/72 Sea Harrier is a beautiful, little (rough-ish) gem. The parts fit beautifully, the engraving beautifully done and the decals behave correctly. The cockpit however needs more work (or a resin replacement) and there should at least be a wider selection of weapons. I haven't seen Hasegawa and Airfix Sea Harrier FRS.1 but for me at least, this is the best 1/72 Sea Harrier in the market.