Nephele

Nephele
Role	Interceptor, air superiority, and multirole fighter
National origin	Æþurheim
First flight	1973
Introduction	1976
Retired	2004
Status	In limited service
Primary user	URA Air Force Syaran Army Air Corps
Produced	1976-2000
Number built	300+

The Nephele, more commonly known by its original designation JF9 Fiskeørn is a supersonic fighter aircraft first built by Æthurheim, and later acquired by the Republic of Syara. The Nephele can serve in a variety of functions including interception, air superiority, and ground-attack missions. With a powerful radar, long range missiles, and variable-swept wings, the Nephele is a major point of pride for the URA Air Force and was a major component of the Syaran Army Air Corps, becoming very popular with both fighter pilots and the public.

In Syara, the Nephele saw extensive use during the Refusal War on both sides of the conflict, and afterwards was originally slated for continued use into the 2010s. Difficulties in restarting production, coupled with the maintenance heavy nature of the aircraft due to its design however led to a shortfall in production, and the Nephele was replaced by the domestic Ceyx and the Ossorian designed Zephyr in the 1990s. The Nephele was retired from service in 2004, though some were pressed back into service for the Zemplen War. A few airframes remain operational for training and testing purposes.

The aircraft remained in service with the Æsthurheim armed forces before being retired from active service and assigned to the Luftreservat (Air Reserve), while naval variants continued to be flown by the Krigsmarine before it was supplemented by T-30 Fáinleog from Ossoria.