Character SheetName: Ariella Yosef
Nickname/Callsign: Lioness
Age: 33
Nationality: Israeli
Appearance:AriellaBio:Born in 1985, Ariella had a fairly tough childhood. Born close to the contested border areas of Israel, many of her childhood friends were wounded and injured by artillery and rocket attacks during her childhood and teenage years, instilling a strong desire for vengeance and justice within her.
The frequent sight of IDF forces within the area also gave her a strong respect for the military of her homeland, especially seeing the doctors, engineers and other rescue workers frequently helping those in need or wounded - of either side, and of all nationalities.
As she grew older, she learned more about the world outside of her homeland, and also the circumstances behind the conflicts, and her simple worldview changed a lot, but she nonetheless harbored a strong desire to fight and serve her country and her people, and a strong protective instinct toward others.
After seeing aircraft in flight on more than one occasion and meeting with several pilots and other member of the Heyl Ha Avir (IADF) when on a school visit during an open day, she became enthralled with the idea of becoming a fighter pilot, and began the path to doing so in her schooling.
This only increased when her national service came up after graduation, and she was keen pursue the idea, working hard toward it at every step she could.
While she has worked hard to become a pilot, she has not felt like she missed out on life - like all soldiers, she loves to enjoy socializing with her friends and comrades, and especially enjoys time spent relaxing with friends either at the beach, at a bar, or out elsewhere - especially since, as she admits to herself, she’s not the most ‘orthodox’ of Jews, and frequently toes the line to see what it is she’s missing out on, on occasion. That said, she does have some belief, but keeps it mostly to herself.
She still keeps in touch with her family, but also enjoys spending time immersing herself in the culture and customs of other nations, and greatly enjoys learning about other parts of the world, other people, other food and drink, and experiencing all sorts of different ways of life. She greatly values individual expression and identity, and loves to see how different cultures come together. As such, she is curious and keen when meeting other people.
Though her combat record is exemplary, and she is a very dedicated and professional pilot, she does have a sense of humour and fun, and as much as her record for aggressive, daring and precise tactics and action is known, so too is her humour and good nature.
This said, she does harbour some doubts toward her own aims and goals, finding herself overwhelmed by all she has done, and wondering exactly why she keeps being thrust into the limelight, and why a large number of her wingmen are no longer with her, but her own successes keep being trumpeted - and whether it is at their expense.
She maintains a brave face, but is haunted by all of those she has lost, and with each mounting casualty it becomes harder to keep her facade together.
Service Record:Ariella joined the IADF after completing her initial national service. She was rushed into service after Heavenfall in 1998, and the subsequent disastrous consequence for Israel, both in the natural disasters, and the numerous violent clashes with its’ neighbours following the incident.
The titanic waves and destruction wreaked havoc with Israel’s coastlines and left thousands injured or worse, and billions of dollars-worth of property damage occurred. The Armed Forces took a lion’s share of cleaning up and recovering the damage, and shortly after things began to resume some sort of function, Israel was immediately attacked by numerous neighbours looking to settle long-standing conflicts and grudges.
With so many men and women lost, the reservists and those in National Service were pressed into the fight as standing fighters, and Ariella earned her wings at last.
First piloting an A-4 Skyhawk as an armed trainer and attack aircraft, she later graduated to a Kfir, where she earned numerous air-to-air kills, as well as providing air support over the West Bank as part of a counter-attack, becoming notorious for her gratuitous use of cannon-fire at low-level against armoured convoys, and her expertise in picking off difficult ground targets.
However, she lost many wingmen during this time, often to ground fire or to enemy attacks. It was only through these losses that her senses and awareness sharpened - each one was an unforgettably painful lesson that forced her to shape up and be better, or to lose more friends. However, each was easily and necessarily brushed over by those in command, with the victories instead being counted.
Earning something of a reputation with the enemy as a harbinger of doom, and with her allies on the ground as a good-luck charm (and her aerial allies as a curse of sorts) her grey-blue tiger-striped Kfir was noted to be watched for by her enemies. Eventually her luck ran out, and she was shot down in a mission over the Golan Heights.
Ejecting from her aircraft, she managed to survive and evade the enemy for three days, at one point engaging in a firefight with an infantry patrol, before making contact with an armoured column. She returned to battle within two weeks, and made two more kills before the stabilization in the area, racking up an ‘ace’ score.
Since then, the IADF has been integrating with the UNF order of battle, and she has been in part responsible for providing familiarisation training with exchange pilots and units from other nations, and has began to fulfil her dream of seeing other parts of the world. Unfortunately, she was able to witness first-hand the attack on Geneva, and lead one of the security flights shortly after that intercepted a long-range reconnaissance aircraft in the area.
Since then, she has been assigned to Avalon Squadron, due to her experience and knowledge. She is nervous about how she will cope, especially with new people around her, but she has forced her doubts down, and is relying on her skill to do the best for them, and those counting on her.
Aircraft DetailsThe Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir (Hebrew: "Lion Cub") is an Israeli-built all-weather, multirole combat aircraft based on a modified French Dassault Mirage 5 airframe, with Israeli avionics and originally equipped with an Israeli-built version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine.
Ariella’s Kfir has been upgraded with a host of new systems by the Avalon Institute, including a new engine, to improve performance considerably over older models. Reduced weight through using newer materials has resulted in an increase in power and maneuverability of almost 15% over a stock-model Kfir, and the avionic, including the new AESA radar and helmet-mounted sight bring it to a comparable level to a current-gen F-16.
Name of Aircraft: IAI Kfir CAI (C, ‘Avalon Institute’) aka ‘Block 65’ Kfir.
Profile Link: IAI KfirModifications:
- Standard Avalon Mods
- Thrust-vectored PW-229 engine, with increased usage of light-weight composite, ceramic and alloy components
- Glass cockpit
- Updated stores management systems integrating wider range of ordnance
- Navalized configuration with powered fly-by-wire controls and all-moving canards for greater control at low speeds for carrier approaches.
- Additional external cameras to aid in high AoA and high-speed carrier landings
- Retractable in-flight refuelling probe
- New one piece canopy for improved visibility
- External body-mounted conformal fuel-tanks (CFT's) for extended range
Personal Colour Scheme:Two-tone blue-grey tiger-stripe scheme with a yellow flash at the top of the rudder, fading into a hazy powder-blue/white color on the underside of the aircraft.
Weapon Systems:Internal Cannon:
2 x DEFA 30mm cannon w/200 rounds each
Nine external hardpoints for a combination of the following weapons and equipment:
- Python-4 Short-range IR-Guided AAMs
- Derby Medium-range Radar-guided AAMs
- AGM-65 Maverick AGMs
- AGM-142 Popeye
- AGM-88 HARM
- Paveway-series of Laser-guided bombs
- Rafael SPICE guided bomb
- JDAM-series GPS-Guided bombs
- Mk.80 series of unguided bombs
- CBU-cluster bomb units
- Matra Durandal anti-runway bombs
- SNEB unguided 68mm rocket pods
- Gunpods
- Droptanks
- LITENING integrated targeting pod (laser and FLIR targeting pod)