In the same vein as the earlier Israeli Kfir, the Atlas Cheetah was an attempt to adapt the Mirage III to fit the particular needs of the South African Air Force. This was at a time when obtaining new aircraft became virtually impossible due to a 1977 UN arms embargo against the Apartheid regime while at the same time the country was embroiled in conflict against Angolan and Cuban forces in the Namibian border. Like the Kfir, the Cheetah incorporated a number of physical and internal modifications such as inlet-mounted canard foreplanes, a heavily reconstructed airframe, an upraded engine and avionics in addition to the ability to be equipped with local weapons. The result is an aircraft with considerably superior performance to the Mirage III and which is still in service with the SAAF although it is slowly being phased out in favor of the more modern JAS 39 Gripen.

Conversion of Mirage aircraft began in 1983 and the first two-seat attack-capable Cheetah D was made public on 16 July 1986 becoming operational the following year. It was joined in service by the single-seat Cheetah E fighter which was nothing more than an interim version pending the arrival of the definitive Cheetah C which features a sophisticated avionics suite based on a pulse-doppler, multi-mode radar as well as precision-guided bombing capability. While many of the details are classified, its avionics are considered to be as good as any 4th generation US fighter in service.