Famous European Aircraft - Sepecat Jaguar: A Development and Operational History

Nice one Hood, I seriously cannot wait until April. Fingers and toes firmly crossed that it does not get delayed.
 
FighterJock said:
The Jaguar book in definitely one to look out for.
Click to expand...
Hood said:
I may be more than a little biased on this one!
I've just handed in some corrections and another five appendices of data. If all goes well it should make the April launch date.
Click to expand...
GTX said:
https://www.crecy.co.uk/wings-over-the-fleet
Click to expand...
Antonio said:
https://www.crecy.co.uk/wings-over-the-fleet?osCsid=6893e87guc3odffe09vb3nv4l1Available from July 2025
"All the major types are covered, from all-weather fighters, interceptors, strike aircraft, anti-submarine helicopters and airborne early warning aircraft.
as are many design studies and proposals that remained on the drawing board. Guided missiles during the post-war period and the evolution of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers and the new technologies required to operate jet aircraft from ships are also analysed."
Promising... :)
Click to expand...

I don't yet own a James Jackson book, but I know that author is held in respect by those on this website. His forthcoming book on the SEPECAT Jaguar, which (checking just now) I see has been retired by its operators except India, is very tempting: I will have to decide whether to buy a copy, or remain content with the eponymous chapters of my Bill Gunston books Attack Aircraft of the West and Jet Bombers (which included the Jaguar's 1990-91 Gulf War experience).

This Hikoki book Wings Over the Fleet: British Naval Aircraft Since 1945 seems like a must-have; thanks for the notice GTX. Mr Jackson, other than the fact it will include the Fleet Air Arm's new F-35s (and not include WW2 and previous), how does the theme and content of your forthcoming book compare and contrast with, for example, Owen Thetford's British Naval Aircraft Since 1912 in the Putnam Aviation Series? Please comment. Best wishes to you for all your books' success.
 
Owens Z said:
I don't yet own a James Jackson book, but I know that author is held in respect by those on this website. His forthcoming book on the SEPECAT Jaguar, which (checking just now) I see has been retired by its operators except India, is very tempting: I will have to decide whether to buy a copy, or remain content with the eponymous chapters of my Bill Gunston books Attack Aircraft of the West and Jet Bombers (which included the Jaguar's 1990-91 Gulf War experience).

This Hikoki book Wings Over the Fleet: British Naval Aircraft Since 1945 seems like a must-have; thanks for the notice GTX. Mr Jackson, other than the fact it will include the Fleet Air Arm's new F-35s (and not include WW2 and previous), how does the theme and content of your forthcoming book compare and contrast with, for example, Owen Thetford's British Naval Aircraft Since 1912 in the Putnam Aviation Series? Please comment. Best wishes to you for all your books' success.
Click to expand...

I think you'll find the Jaguar book far more thorough that Bill Gunston's chapter, though I guess it boils down how much you like Jaguars as to whether you buy the book or not (I tend to only buy single type books on aircraft I particularly like that I don't have much information on).

If you want a modern version of Owen Thetford's British Naval Aircraft Since 1912 then David Hobb's latest book (released a few months ago) Aircraft of the Royal Navy since 1908 is probably the closest analogue, its even arranged in alphabetical order I believe (https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Aircraft-of-the-Royal-Navy-Hardback/p/51070).

Wings Over the Fleet is very similar to other titles within the Hikoki Since 1945 series with thematic chapters in a broadly chronological order. It starts with the Vampire jet trials, moving on the Sea Hawk and Attacker (I'm not covering the late war piston aircraft, Tony Buttler's Propeller Twilight should cover your needs for sleek, powerful piston jobs). Then the experiments with rubber decks, angled decks and steam catapults before examining the day fighters, all-weather fighters, strike aircraft, ASW, helicopters, Commando helicopters, AEW, V/STOL and all the way to the current day. It obviously covers aircraft carrier technologies etc. to put the aircraft into their context and at its heart it is a projects book as well as looking at the in service types. But its not an operational history - you won't find detailed accounts of Shar combats over the Falklands for example. There is a good deal of procurement politics involved and it covers a lot of ground as the RN carrier fleet fluctuates in size over the post-war decades. It doesn't dwell too heavily on wider defence politics, this is an aircraft book after all. It offers basic info on carrier studies etc., but again this isn't a naval reference book. Hobbs and others have covered this area and Friedman's forthcoming two-volume set will (hopefully) be a fairly definitive work on the subject (British Carrier Aviation being long overdue a refresh).

Anyone who is familiar with the AH section of the forum knows how emotive this topic is, I don't make any judgements, I leave the reader to do that.

And a shout out to forum member @CiTrus90 (Luca Landino) for the excellent cover 3D artwork - which features in the Jaguar book as well (hinting at the range of projects covered in that book, there are other CiTrus90 artworks in the Jag book). Although not a member here, a shout out to Luciano Alviani who painted six artworks of a range of the naval projects - they are pretty striking (if anyone wants to see a PD.13 lobbing a Red Beard towards a Soviet task force, here is your chance!), anyone who already owns one of Chris Gibson's Hikoki's or Blue Envoy Tech Profiles or my Teach for the Sky will know Luciano's work.
 
That would be a better for the Jaguar book than the Famous British Aircraft series Hood.
 
Some internal pics of the book, including the contents page.
 

Attachments

  • 20250515_080049.jpg
    20250515_080049.jpg
    721.6 KB · Views: 114
  • 20250515_080033.jpg
    20250515_080033.jpg
    722.1 KB · Views: 121
  • 20250515_080029.jpg
    20250515_080029.jpg
    714.6 KB · Views: 135
  • 20250515_080022.jpg
    20250515_080022.jpg
    468 KB · Views: 141
  • 20250514_184200.jpg
    20250514_184200.jpg
    446.6 KB · Views: 134
  • 20250515_080044.jpg
    20250515_080044.jpg
    922.4 KB · Views: 125
I wonder how much DARIN upgrades from the Indian Air Force-related content were involved. Seems like not very much was included.
 
WANX said:
I wonder how much DARIN upgrades from the Indian Air Force-related content were involved. Seems like not very much was included.
Click to expand...
There is a whole chapter on the Indian Jaguars, including licence production and the DARIN upgrades.
 
I am interested in the evolution of the Jaguar and its role as the de facto replacement in RAF service of the P1154.
Does this get covered? Would like to see models and artwork.
 
uk 75 said:
I am interested in the evolution of the Jaguar and its role as the de facto replacement in RAF service of the P1154.
Does this get covered? Would like to see models and artwork.
Click to expand...
Yes the full development history is covered, including the expansion of the Jaguar S as the RAF's main variant following the 1966 Defence Review.
No models or profile artworks but there is some 3D artwork by our very own @CiTrus90 and plenty of photographs.
 
Hood said:
Yes the full development history is covered, including the expansion of the Jaguar S as the RAF's main variant following the 1966 Defence Review.
No models or profile artworks but there is some 3D artwork by our very own @CiTrus90 and plenty of photographs.
Click to expand...
Now have a copy and am delighted with it.
I am looking forward to Wings over the Fleet.
 
Well if anyone from the author or publisher lurks here you may want to talk to Amazon, I just got an email from them that they're canceling my pre-order (in the US) of many months ago due to "supply chain issues". They don't seem to have either any stock or a date by which they will have stock.
 
That's odd. I'll drop Crecy a line and see what's going on.
 
CaptainKoloth said:
Well if anyone from the author or publisher lurks here you may want to talk to Amazon, I just got an email from them that they're canceling my pre-order (in the US) of many months ago due to "supply chain issues". They don't seem to have either any stock or a date by which they will have stock.
Click to expand...

I've had similar problems with my books. There seems to be some sort of ongoing disruption in supply from the UK to the US that is affecting several book publishers (maybe all book publishers?).

You can't really talk to Amazon either. They will only communicate with the distributor (middleman), not the publisher directly. And even then, as I understand it, the distributor can only communicate with Amazon through spreadsheet entries rather than through communications with an actual person.
 
CaptainKoloth said:
I did order a copy directly from Crecy, but other potential US buyers may not be as dedicated to want to put in that effort and cost.
Click to expand...
Stock has definitely been shipped to the US. As Dan says, publishers don't have any direct comms with Amazon so they are as much in the dark as we are.
It appears as though its listed as available for US Amazon customers. The situation does seem to be improving which is a good sign.
 
Just got my copy not sure how many copies in Anchorage Alaska but there is now one my copy is from Amazon they're doing some sort of deal was going for 39.00 now up to 44.00 out of the sticker price of 55.00 USD but am happy
 

Attachments

  • 20250730_154939.jpg
    20250730_154939.jpg
    2.1 MB · Views: 45
overscan (PaulMM) said:
Its never been one of my favourite aircraft, but I'll try and get around to buying a copy.
Click to expand...

My thought exactly. With an already-lengthy to-buy list and limited budget, I thought I would wait to make Wings Over the Fleet: British Naval Aircraft since 1945 my first James Jackson book. But with the good reviews of SEPECAT Jaguar, and its American availability now enabled, I am weakening...
 
I recently received my copy and already started reading it. As an unbuilt project enthusiast I'm fully satisfied because the book includes both comprehensive chapters on origins and derivatives. I consider most monographic incomplete without that information. Not the case here because both chapters are excellent in their coverage, including enough detail to please even the most demanding enthusiasts.

If the Jaguar is not your favourite aircraft, maybe there are still reasons to know more like its complex but successful development as an international program with demanding background.
It also was a Cold War warrior but still useful in the late XX years conflicts, and still in service with the Indian Air Force. The Jaguar aroused the interest of different air forces and failed exports, in general, is an attractive topic to me.
We covered it for the Jaguar in this forum:
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/sepecat-jaguar-export-prospects.38797/#post-618964
Narrative is excellent and the book is generously illustrated with beautiful photographs and technical drawings. Additionally, Luca Landino's renderings of unbuilt concepts are amazing.
I recommend it.

Thank you Mr Jackson!
 
Waiting to get my copy for my birthday, which will be a long wait unfortunately. But from what I have seen of Antonio's comments above it will be a good read plus my birthday cannot come fast enough.
 
From having a read through, I'm still wondering why Jaguar had two engines. Was there a requirement somewhere to use two engines, or Adour specifically?

From going through then all the ECAT/ECAP French concepts and almost all UK concepts were twin engine. Or was it simply that Adour was the best fit for the requirements (range) given it's lower sfc as a turbofan and the existing big turbofans (i.e. Spey Mk 200) were just too big and heavy?
 
red admiral said:
From having a read through, I'm still wondering why Jaguar had two engines. Was there a requirement somewhere to use two engines, or Adour specifically?

From going through then all the ECAT/ECAP French concepts and almost all UK concepts were twin engine. Or was it simply that Adour was the best fit for the requirements (range) given it's lower sfc as a turbofan and the existing big turbofans (i.e. Spey Mk 200) were just too big and heavy?
Click to expand...
ECAT only specified a maximum speed of Mach 0.9, so there was no need for a large turbofan and most French turbojets of the early 1960s were Turbomeca's relatively puny series lightweight engines. So the French designers put a pair of engines on to get sufficient thrust (plus there may have been a wish for single-engine safety, this factor did seem to come into play later for the Jaguar A and S in terms of combat survivability). The designs seem to vary between on 9,400lbf to 13,500lbf with the RB.172 or Tourmalet in pairs.

AST.362 specified Mach 0.9 with the VG wings extended and Mach 2.0 swept back. It seems from the designs tendered that on average the 13,000lbf was envisioned as the sweet spot to get the necessary performance given the relatively small and light airframe. Sometimes singles with reheat and sometimes scaled-down pairs. Spey was looked at in P.45 but didn't get very far - an unreheated Spey is not offering much additional potential, if not inferior output to a couple of RB.172.
Endurance as a trainer probably did favour having a low sfc, plus engine weight was a bigger factor given the relatively light aircraft envisioned.

That Turbomeca and Rolls-Royce had more or less reached the same conclusion with the Tourmalet and RB.172 of similar layout and power was probably highly fortuitous in allowing the engines to be easily merged as a joint project and to avoid having to redesign the Br.121 too extensively.
I don't think that Turbomeca would have been able to graft something of theirs onto Spey for example to create a joint project in the same way and given that the UK was essentially going with a French aircraft, there was probably little desire to go down the route of radical changes to incorporate a single larger engine.

Plus the RAF weren't interested in the Jaguar as a fighter at that stage, they just wanted a trainer, and the AdA didn't really care too much about supersonic performance for the Jag A, so there was no impetus to add a large amount of thrust. By 1966 when it looked like more oomph was needed it was too late, the Jag and Adour designs were baked in. I feel the RAF would have been disinclined to go for a single-engine Jaguar GR.1 given its low-level role.
 
Nick Sumner said:
Just seen this. Exciting! :)
Is that a navalised SEPECAT Jaguar with Sea Eagles, enlarged air intakes and a big radar on the nose?
Click to expand...
Hood said:
It is indeed. To be precise EAG.8469, a navalised version of the developed STOVL Jaguar for AST.396.
Click to expand...
Antonio said:
I recently received my copy and already started reading it. As an unbuilt project enthusiast I'm fully satisfied because the book includes both comprehensive chapters on origins and derivatives. I consider most monographic incomplete without that information. Not the case here because both chapters are excellent in their coverage, including enough detail to please even the most demanding enthusiasts. If the Jaguar is not your favourite aircraft, maybe there are still reasons to know more like its complex but successful development as an international program with demanding background. It also was a Cold War warrior but still useful in the late XX years conflicts, and still in service with the Indian Air Force. The Jaguar aroused the interest of different air forces and failed exports, in general, is an attractive topic to me. We covered it for the Jaguar in this forum:
Narrative is excellent and the book is generously illustrated with beautiful photographs and technical drawings. Additionally, Luca Landino's renderings of unbuilt concepts are amazing. I recommend it. Thank you Mr Jackson!
Click to expand...

Okay, okay, Antonio; you sold me!

I find that SEPECAT Jaguar is pleasingly heftier than I had thought, and at first glance the pages appear well laid out. So (assuming this reads well) Wings Over the Fleet: British Naval Aircraft Since 1945 will be my second James Jackson book, rather than first as I had planned. Glad to support the work of diligent aviation authors; keep 'em coming.
 

Attachments

  • Jackson.JPG
    Jackson.JPG
    1,012.1 KB · Views: 35
  • poster.png
    poster.png
    2.2 MB · Views: 32
Famous but not so effective.
At the beginning it was a training jet, then moved to a ground attack one.
It was underpowered (at least the french ones) and the flight qualities not top.
 
Mr Jackson, I hope your new book is being well received. I notice that the originally posted front cover image had Famous British Aircraft in the upper left, with a muted Union Jack (e.g. see post #7 above), while the actual cover (and I am holding the book as I type this) has Famous European Aircraft, with a muted 12-star EU flag. A late change in marketing emphasis by Crecy Publishing? Or did a Frenchman see the original cover and complain?
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom