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Home , Aero Vodochody, Aggressor squadron, Dogfight, Hawker Hunter, Swiss Air Force

Photo by Robert Destatio

Enemies for Hire By Walter J. Boyne Sometimes, the best “Red Air” comes from the private sector.

ighter pilots have been practicing formance and tactics that were studied by air combat maneuvering—dogfi ght- the respective air forces and industries ing—since 1914. Most air forces on both sides. Contemporary magazines, have some kind of formal dogfi ght- such as Britain’s Flight Magazine, printed ing instruction, and most fi ghter numerous insightful analyses of enemy pilotsF do it on their own—frequently against aircraft, including three-view drawings regulations and often with casualties. It was and detailed sketches of technical in- not until the , however, that novations. systematic air combat maneuver (ACM) Both sides repaired and fl ew captured training was introduced using aircraft with enemy aircraft, often to practice friendly dissimilar performance air combat. A few pilots, such as German Formal schooling was established for ace Rudolf F. O. Windisch, who earned 22 dissimilar air combat tactics after Vietnam, victories, went further. For his sixth kill, but it wasn’t until the early 1990s that Windisch shot down a French SPAD S. private fi rms were attracted to provide VII, fl own by Portuguese Captain Oscar DACT as a commercial service. Monteiro Torres. Windisch had the SPAD Increasingly, these fi rms provide many repaired and painted it red, replacing Al- types of DACT at far lower cost than the lied markings with German insignia. Then military services can achieve on their own. he fl ew it in combat, reportedly liking it Most of the activities don’t involve “Red better than his own government-issue on Blue” dogfi ghts, although these receive Albatros D.V. the most attention. Because the types of In truth, the Albatros and the SPAD services vary widely, so do the companies were similar in performance and that offering to support this training, and the remained the case in fi ghter adversaries government can benefi t from the intense for decades. The major powers competed competition. in a cyclical fashion, with one nation Since the first air in 1914, air one-upped by another, such as Britain’s forces have been curious about the “other bested—temporarily—by guys’ ” . These early encounters ’s Polikarpov I-16. Smaller coun- quickly generated reports on enemy per- tries such as , Poland, and 42 Magazine / June 2014 Romania, too, created indigenous aero might have made a temporary difference 1968—almost 1,000 US aircraft were lost, industries producing competitive aircraft. in the European air war, but there were about one per day. When World War II began, the Luftwaffe’s too few and it was too late to make a The air-to-air kill ratio in the and the Royal Air signifi cant impact. was thought to have favored Force’s Spitfi re set the standard, but other By the time the Korean War began in the US at a rate of roughly 10 to one. The countries soon caught up. 1950, the need for DACT seemed to disap- kill ratio in Vietnam, however, sank to During World War II, testing oppos- pear as Russian MiG-15s battled the US 1.1 to one; and even this number was in ing aircraft reached an industrial level; F-86. The performance of the two jets was doubt. Both the Air Force and the Navy the Luftwaffe had the Zirkus Rosarius, comparable, though each had advantages knew that the situation had to be corrected. which operated a varied fl eet of captured over the other. The Navy responded fi rst, with a Allied aircraft that were sometimes used report by Capt. Frank W. Ault indicat- in combat by the special operations unit PROJECT RED BARON ing that the low kill ratio was caused by Kampfgeschwader 200. Britain tested It wasn’t until Vietnam that it became insuffi cient training in ACM. The Navy’s captured German aircraft from the start, urgent to train pilots in DACT, where the Fighter School was established with its No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight. performance of the opposing aircraft varied at NMAS Miramar, Calif., on March 3, The US tested aircraft at several Stateside markedly. High-performance US fi ghters 1969; it later became world famous as facilities and participated in four Allied Air such as the McDonnell F-4 and Republic the “Top ” program. Technical Intelligence Units to evaluate F-105 were pitted against older North Initially, the Navy operated Douglas Japanese aircraft. Vietnamese MiG-17, -19, and -21, fi ght- A-4 Skyhawks and Northrop T-38 Talons It wasn’t until late in World War II that ers. On paper, there should have been no to simulate the characteristics of the a large disparity in fi ghter performance contest: Only the MiG-21’s performance MiG-17 and MiG-21, respectively. It was created by the arrival of the German was in any way competitive with that of also used some Grumman A-6 Intruders jet fi ghter. Ad hoc its American opponents. and Convair F-106s. tactics were quickly developed, but this Unfortunately, given the nature of the The program was immediately success- was on-the-job training, not course work. US offensive mission and the onerous ful, as the Navy’s kill-to-loss ratio rose Had it appeared a year earlier, the Me 262 rules of engagement under which it was to 13 to one after 1970. DACT has since fl own, was able to dictate become basic to naval fl ight training. Left: An ATAC Kfi r and two Hunters tactics and rack up an alarming number of In 1996, Top Gun was incorporated perform “Red Air Force” duties over kills using its combined limited into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare San Clemente Island, Calif., during a command and control exercise in 2013. and integrated ground-based air defense Center at NAS Fallon, Nev. There are Below: A Draken TA-4K and an MB-339 system. During Operation Rolling Thun- four classes a year, each lasting nine- on a intercept training mission. der—from March 2, 1965, to Oct. 31, and-a-half weeks for nine Navy and Marine Corps strike fighter crews. Top Gun also supports other agencies of NSAWC, including a lecture series that runs concurrently with the strike training for entire air wings.

Photo by Jose Ramos Jose by Photo The Navy has several other adversary squadrons stationed around the country. Many other air arms, including those of the US , , Britain, Canada, Greece, , , , Paki- stan, Russia, and Turkey have specialized units with similar functions. The Air Force took much longer to respond to the situation as it conducted an intensive study called Project Red Baron. This analysis of air combat over Vietnam revealed three main problems USAF crews faced: (1) they were not see- ing the enemy until he fi red his —a poor way to begin a ; (2) they did not know enough about enemy pilots, their airplanes, or their tactics; and (3) they believed that air superiority was a given and hadn’t been trained to fi ght an enemy equipped with dissimilar machines. In effect, the air war in Vietnam was on-the-job training. One important fi nding of other studies of that time was that, after 10 combat missions, a pilot or systems offi cer’s odds of surviving later battles rose dramatically. AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2014 43 Several companies emerged in the US and elsewhere to supply essential elements of training at a lower cost than the services can provide. Photo by Jose Ramos Jose by Photo One of the most experienced is the Airborne Tactical Advantage Co., with headquarters in Newport News, Va. ATAC has fl own more than 35,000 hours in sup- port of US and allied aggressor training and owns a fl eet of fi ghter and . It contracts for more aircraft as required. Another, a relative newcomer, is . Draken owns a large fl eet of modern aircraft and is focused on the future of DACT—when potential enemies will be generally equipped with fourth and fi fth generation aircraft.

The decision to create the intensive combat exercise program that became known as Red Flag was spurred on by then-Maj. Richard “Moody” Suter at

Nellis AFB, Nev. The fi rst Red Flag Ramos Jose by Photo was fl own in November 1975, and the 4440th Tactical Fighter Training Group (Red Flag) became operational on March 1, 1976. Red Flag became a true university of air combat. Relatively quickly, four Ag- gressor squadrons were formed: the 64th and 65th in the US, the 26th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor at Clark in the Philippines, and the 527th TFTS at RAF Alconbury in . Northrop F-5Es were chosen to be the initial aggressor aircraft. The training grew rapidly in depth and breadth and is now the responsibility of the 57th Wing, which handles all aspects Top: An ATAC Kfi r plays aggressor for a 390th Fighter Squadron F-15 from Moun- of air combat training. The 414th Combat tain Home AFB, Idaho, in 2008 during a two-week exercise with the 390th and other Training Squadron puts together several squadrons on the base. Above: The view from a cockpit of an MB-339 shows two Red Flag exercises each year, operating Draken aircraft—an A-4K and an MB-339—on an air-to-ground training mission over Florida in 2013. Lockheed Martin F-16 and F-15 fi ghters to simulate the MiG-29 Fulcrum factor alone almost prohibited using For 20 years, ATAC has provided ag- and the Su-30 Flanker. The aggressor modern USAF aircraft on missions that gressor services on an as-required basis, aircraft are painted in colors and markings didn’t require their top performance. boasting savings to its clients of hundreds of foreign users of the competitor aircraft Last but not least was the cost in air- of millions of dollars. ATAC has a build- and emulate their tactics, ordnance, and frame life. it-to-order philosophy that allows it to electronic capabilities. Most aggressor missions don’t require extend existing capabilities to meet new Four major changes affected the world dogfighting, but instead involve flying contractual requirements. It trains Navy, of DACT, opening opportunities for ad- important but relatively simple profiles Marine Corps, Air Force, and Army air- venturesome entrepreneurs. to test the target acquisition and track- crews, ship crews, and combat controllers First was the appearance of highly ing capabilities of , missiles, and from six sites around the world. The training sophisticated competitor aircraft, with aircraft. It would be incredibly wasteful includes air-to-air, air-to-ship, and air-to- advanced electronic and ordnance capa- in terms of both hourly flight time costs ground techniques. bilities, teamed with airborne command and hour cost to use Lockheed For the Navy, these tactical fl ight ser- posts. This made the typical aggressor Martin F-22s against other F-22s in all vices have been integrated into every aircraft of the past unable to simulate a but the most important tactical exercises. level of air-to-air operations, from fl eet potential enemy’s true capability. replacement squadrons to Top Gun. For Second was the massive increase in JOB IT OUT USAF, ATAC has conducted training in ground support requirements implicit in The signifi cance of these changes was F-15 operational readiness evaluations, an aggressor program. amplifi ed by reductions in the Pentagon Red Flag and Northern Edge exercises, and Third was the skyrocketing cost-per- budget and by the effects of budget se- support for training Lockheed Martin F-22 hour to fly modern tactical aircraft. This questration. crews. It provided 300 hours per year of 44 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2014 training to US Air Force in ’s Air-Ground Operations School. Commercial British Aggressors In Asia, ATAC recently completed a fi rst In Great Britain, Aviation is the only company authorized to ever two-week deployment to Kunsan AB, provide dissimilar air combat training services to the British armed services Republic of Korea, home of USAF’s 8th and to defense contractors. HHA supplies fast- for work as aggres- Fighter Wing. As a guest Red Air Forces sors in air combat maneuvers, threat simulation, mission support training, player, ATAC deployed two Hawker Hunter photo chase, radar calibration, and other services. HHA also has contracts Mk-58 aircraft from NAS Atsugi, . to operate against ships, testing their defensive capabilities. They took part in the joint South Korea Air HHA took advantage of the ’s decision to retire a fl eet of Force-7th Air Force exercise Max Thun- low-hour Hawker Hunters and bought 12 of the versatile aircraft. The Hunt- der 13-2. The versatile hunters provided ers have been equipped with state-of-the-art electronics so that they can adversary support in multiple large force replicate 80 percent of all recognized aircraft or missile threats. Large-scale investments made it possible for the fi rm to expand its engi- exercises. They fl ew missions ranging from neering and operational infrastructure to organically operate and maintain defensive counterair to low-level strike. its aircraft. It uses the Sukhoi Su-22 to meet requirements for supersonic The 8th Operations Group commander aircraft and the BAE Buccaneer for long-range work. Aircraft are based at at Kunsan, Col. Peter M. Bilodeau, com- RAF Scampton. mended ATAC for its professional threat replication to the Blue Air Forces. The savings provided by ATAC include millions of dollars in training and readi- business model. Draken has assembled a tions and space missile defense testing. The ness costs. A less obvious benefi t is the fl eet of more than 50 aircraft, with more fi rm says the main difference between itself life extension this provides for frontline than 80 planned. It claims to be the largest and its clients is the lower cost at which it aircraft. For example, in the last two privately owned fl eet of can provide these functions. decades the Navy has saved hundreds of in the world, and it is focused on the re- Like ATAC, and most of the other com- millions of dollars with ATAC’s aircraft quirements of air forces using fourth and mercial adversary fi rms, Draken recruits supplanting F/A-18 Hornets in specifi c especially fi fth gen aircraft. top quality personnel. The pilots are training scenarios, according to the com- The Draken fleet includes 11 military-trained and many are Red Flag pany. Using ATAC aircraft saved $16,000 Douglas A-4K Skyhawks, 27 MiG-21s, or Top Gun graduates. Ground personnel per fl ight hour, over the course of 19,000 nine Aermacchi MB-339s, and fi ve L-39 are equally experienced. sorties. Perhaps more importantly, it also aircraft. Many of these are equipped with Draken and ATAC are the bookends of saved an average of 130 years of airframe modern electronic equipment. Most are the commercial aggressor training spec- time, assuming that the Hornets would fairly low-time aircraft or have gone trum. In between there are a number of other have fl own 230 hours per year. through service life extension programs. aggressor companies, such as Discovery ATAC’s fl eet of 24 aircraft includes Management at Draken states that Air Defense Services of Canada or Hawker specialized versions of three different it offers the only “fourth generation” Hunter Aviation in Great Britain. Each fi ghters, each one capable of executing solution to the industry, claiming a cost fi rm has its own style, business model, the specifi c military requirements called effectiveness of four to fi ve times that of and philosophy. for by a contract. The most important of using service aircraft. Although its fl eet The future is bright for such companies these are the supersonic, single-seat Israel is not fourth generation, it offers a wide and other new entrants in the fi eld. First Aircraft Industries F-21 Kfi r, the legendary spectrum of services. is the rising cost of new equipment, in Hawker Hunter, and the Aero Vodochody Draken contends that the military ser- the form of the F-35 Lightning, JAS 39 Albatros L-39. However, ATAC is engaged vices should concentrate their limited fl ight Gripen, Eurofi ghter Typhoon, Sukhoi T-50, with several aircraft vendors so that it can time—and airframe life hours—on Blue or Chengdu J-20. These new fi ghters are supply other types as needed, including Air capability and outsource the adversary getting very expensive for any air force to the Lockheed Martin F-16. The fi rm also stand-ins. The business case depends on use in many training roles, both in fl ight supports other companies in shrinking budgets for frontline jet fl ying hour and in airframe hour cost. their development programs. hours, a model that has been borne out Moreover, there are myriad possibilities The company attributes its success in recent years. for combat, ranging from small actions in part to its rigorous hiring process, While Draken emphasizes joint tactical against terrorist operations to full-scale recruiting only retired or reserve US air combat training, it also offers airborne wars between major powers. This calls for fi ghter pilots with an average of 3,000 adversary support, aerial refueling of its a wide array of threat aircraft, armed with hours fl ying time. More than 75 percent own and other aircraft, threat simulation, a variety of ordnance and the necessary of these hires are graduates of either the and other missions as required. Beyond just support personnel equipment to be used USAF Weapons School or the Navy’s training functions, Draken offers research in many different training scenarios. As Top Gun. Maintenance personnel hiring and development capabilities in the form a result, there will be opportunities for standards are equally high, as the aircraft of weapon carriage, photo chase, High-Q entrepreneurs to offer specialized training in ATAC’s fl eet are the most sophisticated testing, and radar testing. It also provides solutions for far less than the respective versions of their type, equipped with the support for remotely piloted aircraft opera- air forces could provide. I most modern electronic and ordnance systems available. ATAC has been able to Walter J. Boyne, former director of the National Air and Space Museum in Wash- maintain a 97 percent mission completion ington, is a retired Air Force colonel and author. He has written more than 400 rate over its 20-year history. articles about aviation topics and 29 books, the most recent of which is Beyond Draken International operates out of the Horizons: The Lockheed Story. His most recent article for Air Force Magazine, Lakeland, Fla., with a very different “The Checklist,” appeared in the August 2013 issue. AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2014 45