The Atlas Carver (sometimes erroneously referred to as "CAVA")[4] was a proposed South African twin-engine, delta wing fourth-generation fighter aircraft.
As envisioned, Carver was intended to be a modern and capable successor aircraft to replace multiple, ageing types then in service with the SAAF, such as the British-built Blackburn Buccaneer, French-built Mirage IIIs, and the Atlas Cheetahs.
During February 1991, the cancellation of Project Carver was announced by South African President F. W. de Klerk, who stated that the programme's research and development costs were too great to justify during peacetime.
In its place, the government preferred acquisition of foreign aircraft which had become possible again after the lifting of the international arms embargo against South Africa; ultimately, the Swedish-built Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter was procured to equip the SAAF with instead.
[6] During November 1985, FAPLA began acquiring more sophisticated combat aircraft and radar installations; gradually, the addition of these improved assets enabled air superiority over southern Angola to be seized from South Africa's expeditionary forces, rendering offensive operations more risky to conduct and increasingly the likelihood of losses.
[1] The change resulted in a delay of at least two years, the adoption of a twin-engine layout necessitated a larger and heavier airframe to be used along with more complex systems; essentially, the design team had to return to the drawing board.
[1] During 1988, Atlas commenced the construction of a single Carver prototype; according to reports, this aircraft was never fully completed and no test flights were known to have taken place.
[3][8] The Angolan Tripartite Accord and the end of the South African Border War represented a major loss of impetus for Project Carver.
[1][4] The principal official reason given at the time for the cancellation was that the expense of developing an indigenous fighter aircraft could not be justified in the light of the decreased threat in the newfound peacetime, changes in politics including the movement away from apartheid, and the gradual normalisation of international relationships.