![]() ![]() Previously flown by the Spanish Air Force, these aircraft will join Draken’s existing fleet of radar-equipped Douglas A-4K Skyhawks and Aero Vodochody L-159E “Honey Badger” fighter jets to support Draken’s Nellis AFB ADAIR contract which provides adversary training for the USAF Weapons School, Red Flag exercises, operational test support, RTU support, and Combat Air Forces abroad. ![]() In 2017, Draken International announced the procurement of 22 Mirage F1M and F1B fighter jets. ![]() For instance, TacAir acquired some ex-Royal Jordanian Air Force F-5E Tiger II jets, upgrading them into what they now call the F-5AT Advanced Tiger configuration, while both ATAC and Draken have purchased second-hand, upgraded Dassault Mirage F1 (from France and Spain). Air Force has awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to seven different companies (the above mentioned ones along with Air USA Inc., Blue Air Training, Coastal Defense and Top Aces Corporation) last month.Ĭonsidered the expanding market, these company continue to buy aircraft to enhance the services they can provide to the U.S. And this is going to continue in the future: the U.S. military since more than a decade, committing their jets to replicate high-end real-world threats. Companies like ATAC, Draken International and TacAir have been working with the U.S. and abroad, even those air forces who have the assets, budget and experience to insource adversary support services increasingly rely on contracted aggressor services provided by private companies. Generally speaking, the problem is that aggressor squadrons are costly to operate and maintain: air arms need experienced aircrews, constant training and the proper asset. While the T-346s have provided adversary “services” during NATO TLP (Tactical Leadership Training) courses, the aggressor mission is secondary to their advanced jet training role. The aim of this cooperation is to optimize the available resources: with the T-346 replacing the Typhoon in the adversary role, the service has offloaded a significant number of sorties from the Eurofighter line to a cheaper yet quite performing aircraft, without affecting the quality of the training. In Italy, for instance, since the second half of 2015, the Eurofighter Typhoon squadrons of the Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare, AM) have started cooperating with the 212° Gruppo (Squadron) that is responsible for the LIFT (Lead-In Fighter Training) course and has employed their new T-346A Master advanced jet trainers in the Aggressors role. Other countries do have their own adversary squadrons or rely in “low cost” alternatives. These upgrades are slow in arriving because money is needed to rebuild the front-line fleet.” They also lack many civil aviation fundamentals such as GPS, required navigation performance area navigation (RNP-RNAV), and instrument landing systems. “Many of these aircraft lack higher-end radars, data link, helmet mounted sights (HMS), glass cockpits, heads-up display (HUD), and high-off boresight missiles. ![]() Navy, explained in “ Fix Naval Aviation’s Adversary Problem“, Proceedings, Nov. Navy’s adversary component is provided by the VFC-13 Fighting Saints and their F-5N Tigers II (ex-Swiss Tigers) in “Rotten Banana” and “Mig-28” schemes, and by the dedicated reserve adversary squadrons such the VFC-12 and VFA-204 with their F/A-18C Legacy Hornets (A, B, A+, C variants) respectively based at NAS Oceana and NAS New Orleans VMFT-401 is the United States Marine Corps’ only adversary squadron flying the F-5N at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona.Īs Lieutenant Commander Graham Scarbro, U.S. Navy have their own aggressors/adversary units that replicate paint schemes, markings, insignas and, above all, the tactics, used in combat by their near peer adversaries: the USAF has the F-16s of the 64th and 18th AGRS (Aggressor Squadron), respectively at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and Eielson AFB, Alaska the U.S. The role of Aggressors is to train fighter pilots in the most realistic way: the must fight aircraft that are as analogous as possible to the real threat. A former Spanish Air Force Mirage F1M, now registered N574EM, is about to move to Nellis Air Force Base to start providing advanced adversary services to the U.S.
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