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'Draken doubles its fleet of private aggressor F-16s with a dozen surplus jets from Norway:
THOMAS NEWDICK View Thomas Newdick's Articles
Draken International has
signed a contract to bring yet more F-16 fighter jets to its
fast-expanding “red air” fleet, as the adversary air support contractor adds
ex-Norwegian Vipers to the dozen former Dutch examples it acquired earlier this year. Up to 12
F-16s acquired from Norway will form part of an impressive private tactical jet
air force, already one of the world’s largest, which also includes a dozen
ex-South African Atlas Cheetahs, and 22 ex-Spanish Air
Force Mirage F1Ms, plus assorted other
subsonic jets, as well as a deep backstock of MiG-21s.
Draken took to Facebook
yesterday to announce it was buying the
F-16s plus “supporting assets” in a deal signed with the government of Norway
but which still requires approval from U.S. and Norwegian authorities. The value of the contract has not been revealed.
LUFTFORSVARET
A neat stacked formation of Royal Norwegian Air
Force F-16AM/BM jets.
“We are thrilled to have built a superb and
lasting relationship with the people of Norway,” said Bill Tart, COO of Draken,
in the statement. “The inclusion of the F-16s into the Draken fleet is
transformational,” added Joe Ford, Draken’s CEO.
Today, the Norwegian
Defense Materiel Agency provided more details of the sale, noting
that the jets could be delivered to Draken as early as next year and they will
support training “against American fighter aircraft.” Headquartered at Lakeland
Linder International Airport, in Lakeland, Florida, the company also provides
contractor adversary services within Europe.
DRAKEN BECOMES THE NEXT RED AIR
PRIVATE CONTRACTOR TO ACQUIRE F-16 FIGHTER JETSBy Thomas
NewdickPosted in THE WAR ZONE
CHECK OUT THE COCKPIT IN DRAKEN
INTERNATIONAL'S PRIVATE MIRAGE F-1M AGGRESSOR JETSBy Tyler
RogowayPosted in THE WAR ZONE
DRAKEN PICKS UP A DOZEN SOUTH
AFRICAN CHEETAHS TO EMULATE 4TH GENERATION ADVERSARIESBy Joseph
TrevithickPosted in THE WAR ZONE
THE FIRST PRIVATELY OWNED F-16
AGGRESSOR JET HAS TAKEN TO THE SKYBy Tyler
RogowayPosted in THE WAR ZONE
AIR FORCE HIRES SEVEN COMPANIES
IN LONG-AWAITED MEGA ADVERSARY AIR SUPPORT CONTRACTBy Joseph
TrevithickPosted in THE WAR ZONE
“The F-16 has been a formidable capacity for the
[Royal Norwegian Air Force, or RNoAF] and the defense of Norway,” the Defense
Materiel Agency said in a statement on its website. “The F-16 has claimed
sovereignty in Norwegian airspace, as well as participated in a number of
national and international operations and exercises. In September 2019, Defense
Materiel was commissioned by the Ministry of Defense to dispose of the aircraft
after they were taken out of service at the end of 2021.”
In fact, the last of the
Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) F-16s are due to be withdrawn before the end
of this year, after over 40 years of service, so technically they still have a
few more weeks of operations ahead of them. From the beginning of next year,
they will be replaced entirely by the F-35A stealth fighter, Norway being one of the
biggest European customers for this type with 52 examples on order.
LUFTFORSVARET
A Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35A.
The Norwegian Ministry of Defense had already
decided that it would try and sell its F-16s to allies after they completed
their service. As well as the dozen or so jets for Draken, the Norwegian
Minister of Defense Odd-Roger
Enoksen confirmed that “there is a dialogue with NATO allies about the sale of
several Norwegian F-16s.”
"We are now continuing the work of selling as
many of the remaining aircraft as possible and have expectations that this can
be realized in the coming months," said director Mette Sørfonden, director
of the Defense Materiel Agency.
Although old — the Norwegian Vipers were
originally delivered from 1980, initially in Block 1 form — the fleet has been
notably well looked after and has been successively upgraded. “The fighter
aircraft are among the best maintained in the world and have a consistently
high standard,” Sørfonden claims.
LUFTFORSVARET
RNoAF F-16s over Afghanistan under Operation
Enduring Freedom.
Like the Dutch F-16s that Draken previously
acquired, the RNoAF jets underwent the Mid-Life Update (MLU), bringing them
from the original F-16A/B standard to what’s unofficially known as F-16AM/BM.
This means the aircraft are broadly comparable to the U.S. Air Force’s F-16C/D
Block 50/52 fleet. They have been fitted with a new modular mission computer,
targeting pods, datalinks, GPS, night-vision goggle compatibility, and new
precision-guided weapons. Improvements have continued to be introduced via
successive software upgrades.
By adding another batch of
F-16s to its adversary fleet, Draken will keep pace with rival red air
provider Top Aces, which is now operating
the first of the 29 ex-Israeli F-16A/Bs acquired from
Israel.
KYLER
NOE
One of the former Israeli F-16s now flown by Top
Aces.
The move reflects the
popularity of the Viper as a platform with which to meet the U.S. military’s
growing demand for contract aggressor services, especially to fulfill the U.S.
Air Force’s mammoth adversary air contract.
As well as the former Norwegian F-16s, and the 12
already acquired from the Netherlands, Draken could expand its fleet still
further, with the Dutch government having announced an option for the firm to
acquire another 28 examples, which are planned to be retired from service by
the end of 2024.
Sjekk mer om Draken i denne videoen: https://tinyurl.com/2p8fczru
As it stands, Draken’s
fleet currently includes two supersonic fighter jets for adversary work: a
dozen ex-South African Atlas Cheetahs, and 22 ex-Spanish Air
Force Mirage F1Ms. One of the latter jets
was lost in a fatal crash near Nellis Air
Force Base, Nevada, earlier this year.
In addition, Draken
operates subsonic A-4 Skyhawks, L-159 Honey Badgers, L-39s, and MB339s. The company
also owns dozens of MiG-21s, although they are currently in storage.
While the Cheetahs and
Mirage F1s provide a high level of performance and are equipped with radars,
the F-16 is the aggressor of choice for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy and its performance
is legendary. It remains an ideal platform for training pilots of advanced U.S.
fighters like the F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor. The various advantages
the F-16 offers in the red air environment are clear, especially when it comes
to being able to ‘run down’ blue force fighters and other performance and
capabilities advantages. With this in mind, there's what seems like the growing
realization that a place for a true fourth-generation fighter like the Viper
exists for the most demanding of contracted aggressor work. Prior to the
arrival of the F-16 on the private aggressor scene, ‘warmed over’
third-generation types fulfilled the most advanced contracted training
missions.
U.S.
AIR FORCE
A U.S. Air Force F-16C aggressor jet from Eielson
Air Force Base flies over the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, in 2019.
Still, especially once upgrades have been made to
these aging jets, engaging the services of these F-16s won’t come cheap. The
acquisition and direct operating costs alone are significantly higher than
their less complex third-generation fighter stablemates. However, if the U.S.
military needs to properly push its pilots to the limits, and wants to
increasingly rely more heavily on contractors to help it do so, then a platform
of this type makes some sense — an A-4 or L-159, or even a Mirage F1, while
cheaper in nearly every aspect, simply cannot replicate the same kinds of
high-end threats.
Clearly, the appetite for
contractor adversary support is there, and the Draken fleet is set to be busy,
not least with the U.S. Air Force’s $6.4-billion program that is providing red
air support at 12 different airbases throughout the United States. Draken is
among the companies to have received a share of this contract, together
with Air USA, Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, Tactical Air Support, and Top Aces. The contract runs until
October 2024 and is expected to involve between 40,000 to 50,000 flying hours
per year.
Barring any hurdles with U.S. government
approvals, Draken now looks set to receive F-16s, from former Dutch and
Norwegian stocks in 2022, suggesting that they could soon be plying their trade
as bad guys during training and exercises before too long.
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