Posted on 09/19/2017 11:30:21 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
As Textron Airborne Solutions pursues the US Air Force’s lucrative adversary air (ADAIR) contract, the company earlier this month acquired 63 Dassault Mirage F1s, ATAC chief executive Jeffrey Parker tells FlightGlobal.
ATAC, which Textron acquired last year, took ownership of the legacy fleet, plus support equipment and 150 engines, on 5 September. Textron plans to use the Mirages towards the USAF’s upcoming award, which requires almost 150 aircraft to fulfil the service’s "red air" training needs.
Textron is retrofitting the F1s with digital radio frequency memory jamming capabilities and active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars, Parker says, adding: “The requirements the air force is coming out with are clearly an AESA-driven requirement.”
While the 63-aircraft fleet marks a significant acquisition for a private company, Textron is still searching for additional aircraft to satisfy the USAF’s requirements. However, the company’s options have started waning as it looks for aircraft that can operate for more than a decade or have parts that can be supported at the manufacturing level, Parker says. The field is also narrowing in Europe, and Textron has effectively stopped buying from former Eastern Bloc countries for the time being.
“There are aircraft from eastern Europe that our warfighters would train against, but they do not have a good track record for supportability, documentation and airworthiness certification, which has become important for industry now,” he says. “When you start checking off the things that make aircraft attractive, they start falling away, for those reasons, for politics, and for State Department issues where you cannot buy aircraft from different countries.”
The $15 billion ADAIR award would contract out nearly 37,000 flight hours to provide adversary air services, filling the gaps at the USAF’s 57th Wing weapons school and Red Flag training events, as well as operational test and evaluation missions at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The USAF expects to release a final solicitation in January 2018, with a contract award due the following year.
The air force issued a short-term contract to Draken International in 2015, following the closure of the 65th Aggressor Squadron at Nellis AFB and deactivation of the base’s 19 Boeing F-15s, which had performed red air missions. The one-year, $4.5 million contract signalled a broader shift from organic adversary air provision by USAF pilots to a contracted capability.
“In a perfect world we would have the resources to maintain the aggressor squadrons that we used to have, and we’d do our best to work in house,” Air Combat Command chief Gen Mike Holmes said during the annual Air, Space and Cyber conference near Washington DC. However, he notes: “In the world we’re living in now, I don’t want to have to trade an actual fighter squadron for an aggressor squadron because of limits on my budget. The next best thing is to see if we can contract some of that red air out.”
However contracting out adversary air missions is a temporary measure, and Holmes says the USAF has plans in its budget to return to an organic capability. The contract is still likely to last more than a year, he adds. One possibility to extend the air force’s resources is to create a derivative of its future T-X trainer, after its Air Education and Training Command gets that programme off the ground.
Can they use they to bomb some of the muzzie enclaves in France?
Wow, that is a massive expansion for ATAC’s fleet. They are going to be like the 15th largest airforce or something.
From what part of the airframe do they deploy the white flag?
That which appears to be an air refueling nozzle is, in fact, the surrender flag deployment boom.
I think that 63 fighter jets is significant for ANY company!
It should help settle down hostile takeover bids, that's for sure.
Thats a significant country sized air force these days.
I don’t think any Latin American country has anything to compare.
And its a private company. If the training gig falls through they could do the Condottiere thing.
A fast search shows the Mirage F1 was a true multiple role fighter and had a long and successful combat record. It is largely retired now. It looks like Textron is getting a good deal on them and a lot of support hardware. Modernized, they could have some use as combat planes. Maybe.
Other than getting proven aircraft at a good price, is there any particular reason the F1 would be a good choice for adversary training? Does it compare well to current Russian or Chinese fighters? Are there any other reasons to use them?
“Other than getting proven aircraft at a good price, is there any particular reason the F1 would be a good choice for adversary training? Does it compare well to current Russian or Chinese fighters? Are there any other reasons to use them?”
Given that the 65th has used F-5s, F-16s and F-15s as Aggressors, the F-1 needs to be - small, fast and come at the trainees in numbers - a swarm.
I worked on the Nellis Range Complex for over a decade as a blue suiter (TEWTS, back in the early 70s, then with a DIA unit) - the ground portion was almost all contractor operated by 1984.
So it makes sense the air part would be contracted out - save a ton of money and keep our combat aircraft in combat units.
Tracor/Flight Systems used to be a big player in this game....
1. The combat aircraft in inventory get to be used in the front lines.
2. Someone else is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the aggressor squadrons, So there is less impact on the Air force budget and operations.
3. Contracting out like this is not new.
4. Having 63 (!) of the same aircraft for the aggressor squadrons allows training against swarms.
5. The F1 is good enough for the role.
Does that sound about right?
The F-1 is about obsolete, but a neat aircraft. Besides, it’s maintenance footprint seems lower than that of something like the larger British Tornado and the French have generally kept their aircraft in reasonable shape, so these aircraft can be around for at least a few years.
You are unlikely to get the newest Chinese and Russian jets on the open market, so you mostly make do with a generation behind.
You forgot that by using a contractor force, the USAF can tailor missions and only pay for the actual air hours used.
I spent part of a tour as a COTR for the range part - the “pay for just what is used” is also a big savings.
Now, will they be flying out of Nellis or up at Fallon?
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