F-5 er populær som agressor - AW&ST

TacAir Revives Jordan’s Tigers For ADAIR Contracts James Drew  A ballooning U.S. Air Force and Navy requirement for contractor-provided aggressor and close-air support aircraft for training is unlocking new opportunities for legacy combat aircraft fleets. Several companies—including Draken International, Tactical Air Support (TacAir), Textron Airborne Solutions (Airborne Tactical Advantage Co.) and Top Aces—have been scouring the globe for retired military aircraft that meet the services’ needs, with the most prized models being the Dassault Mirage F1, Lockheed Martin F-16 Viper and Northrop F-5 Tiger. High-performance supersonic fighters like these are typically reserved for national air forces, but after decades of service, they are becoming available to the highest bidder, which right now happens to be U.S. companies vying for potentially lucrative Air Force and Navy contracts. Slower-moving subsonic turbojets and turboprops are also being snapped up to drop dummy bombs and strafe targets during live joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) training. Fighter Pursuit Defense Department seeking contractor-supplied fighters for F-35 testing at China Lake, training in Europe Tactical Air Support considering Legion Pod, APG-83 Sabr for “upmarket” F-5 While there is plenty of demand from international customers for contractor air support, nothing comes close to the scale and scope of what the U.S. military says it requires. The services need contractor help with training, testing and tactics development to offset a declining pilot population, aging fighter force and sky-high flying costs. The Navy and Air Force have traditionally used their own aircraft for red air and close air support, but are increasingly turning to contractors to free up their own pilots and platforms for real combat operations. This demand will increase exponentially as the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps hold on to legacy fighters for longer and induct more Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs, which are far too expensive to fly in an aggressor role. For TacAir, the platform of choice is the F-5 Tiger II, one of the most popular supersonic lightweight fighters of the Cold War, operated mainly by U.S. allies and security partners. The military aviation training and advisory services company recently secured 21 F-5E/Fs from the Royal Jordanian Air Force. These aircraft arrived in Florida from the Middle East by air and sea last year. They will join TacAir’s existing F-5 fleet, which counts one early-model F-5B Freedom Fighter and four ex-Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair CF-5Ds. The F-5 is TacAir’s preferred platform for going after the Air Force and Navy’s adversary air services contracts, owing to its size, speed, maneuverability and relatively low operating, maintenance and logistics costs. These same traits made it one of the most successful fighter programs of the last century, with several hundred remaining in active service or standby inventory around the world.

Four of the 21 Jordanian F-5s were flown home in a Boeing 747 freighter, and the remaining 17 came to Florida by ship. After being rebuilt and painted by Northrop Grumman, the F-5s fly to TacAir’s flight operations center in Reno, Nevada. Credit: Northrop Grumman

Although the U.S. government’s contracting processes for adversary air services are taking far longer than many hoped, TacAir is paying out of pocket to get the aircraft back into a flyable condition. The company has hired Northrop Grumman, the original equipment manufacturer, to inspect, rebuild and paint the Jordanian F-5s so that the aircraft are ready to support training operations if, and when, the government calls. Some of TacAir’s F-5s remain boxed-up in storage, but an initial batch has already gone through Northrop’s workshop in St. Augustine, Florida, the same location where the company also produces the Navy’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft. TacAir CEO RC Thompson says the twin-engine F-5 fighters have plenty of service life left—if professionally refurbished and maintained. In fact, this is the first time Northrop has been hired by a commercial company rather than a government agency to reconstitute F-5s. There are other, third-party maintenance, repair and overhaul businesses that probably could do the work cheaper, but Thompson says nobody knows the F-5 better than Northrop. The F-5s were well-preserved, but their maintenance records were sketchy and foreign object damage had been discovered in some of the General Electric J85-21 engines. “We’re cracking every engine open now,” Thompson says. “It is very expensive, but it’s the right way to do business.”

The deal to acquire Amman’s Tiger fleet took about 18 months from initial notification to closing in late-2016. TacAir also needed approval from the U.S. State Department to bring them back into the country. Credit: James Drew/AW&ST

He says hiring Northrop was the “conservative approach,” but it is “money well-spent” to ensure every aircraft is properly inspected and restored to a flightworthy condition. The same workshop supports the Navy’s fleet of 43 F-5N/Fs, which were adopted in 2003 for the same purpose: simulated air-to-air combat training. During a tour of the facility, Northrop F-5 Program Manager Tighe Parmenter said it is unusual for Northrop to be working on F-5s for a commercial company, but this has proven to be a worthwhile venture. The final step in the rebuilding process is for Northrop to paint them in desert or arctic battledress, but with the TacAir logo on the tail rather than the typical Soviet red star featured on U.S. military aggressor aircraft. TacAir has its own aircraft workshop located at the same airport as Northrop’s facility, but the company’s main base of operation is in Reno, Nevada. The aircraft operate under experimental FAA airworthiness certificates and once ready, fly from St. Augustine to Reno via nearby Jacksonville International Airport to join the rest of the fleet.  An initial package of 12 aircraft have all been reassembled and refurbished and are now going through radar and systems upgrades. TacAir is improving the Tiger’s original Emerson APQ-153 and APQ-159 radars to “better than” the F-16’s APG-66. TacAir expects to have those first dozen F-5s ready by October if it secures the Air Force’s Nellis AFB Phase 2 contract. At least four more will undergo major modification in that time if TacAir also wins the Navy’s fourth-generation fighter jet services contract.

The Royal Jordanian Air Force F-5s are being inspected and rebuilt in the same hangar that supports the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ large F-5N aggressor fleet. Credit: U.S. Marine Corps

Thompson says TacAir is following the Southwest Airlines business model: Pick one aircraft type and stick with it to curb operating, maintenance and logistics costs. “Piecemealing fleets is more difficult. It will be the downfall of other companies,” he says. That said, TacAir has not ruled out adopting another aircraft, perhaps the F1, for “high and fast” aggressor missions. The company will adjust depending on government requirements. “We didn’t just stumble upon the F-5,” he says. “The airplane is incredibly cost-efficient to run and through miniaturization of components, there is tremendous upside potential. “There’s also been an unimpressive mishap rate in the industry, mostly because of engine or component failures, or a bird going down the intake. That is why we felt we needed two engines instead of one. It’s risk mitigation.” The company has been exploring several capability upgrades that would bring the F-5 into the 21st century and make it more “F-20 Tigershark-like.” TacAir has been looking into everything from cockpit upgrades to infrared search-and-track (IRST) sensors, helmet-mounted cueing systems and radars. The firm has been talking with Lockheed Martin about potentially adopting the Legion Pod IRST, and perhaps Northrop Grumman’s APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar, which would require structural modifications to move the firewall back and extend the nose. The company is even considering new engines, conformal fuel tanks and a larger wing. “The beauty of the F-5 is we can go upmarket or downmarket,” Thompson says. “We can supply any level of the capability that’s needed.”  Pentagon Luring Commercial ‘Red Air’ Firms with Major Contract Opportunities The Defense Department has announced at least six major contract opportunities that have enticed industry: 1. The Navy’s Fourth-Generation Fighter Jet Services program would provide contractor-owned aircraft with the approximate range, airspeed, signature and radar capabilities of an F-16 or Boeing F/A-18 Hornet to fly against Navy and Marine Corps combat pilots. 2. The Air Force’s Combat Air Forces Adversary Air (CAF ADAIR) program would provide threatlike aggressors for pilot combat readiness training at up to 12 training bases in the U.S. 3. The 99th Contracting Sqdn.’s Nellis AFB, Nevada, Adversary Air Phase 2 contract would provide red air support for the local Air Force Warfare Center and 57th Adversary Tactics Group. This would be a follow-on to the Phase 1 contract with Draken International that has been extended through Sept. 30. 4. U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa has a requirement for commercially supplied aggressors for pilot combat readiness training in Germany (Spangdahlem Air Base), Italy (Aviano Air Base) and the UK (Royal Air Force Lakenheath). The 764th Specialized Contracting Sqdn. is responsible for that contract. 5. The Naval Air Warfare Center’s weapons division at China Lake, California, has expressed interest in commercially operated aircraft to fly against the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for software development and testing. The period of performance could run through September 2023. 6. There are multiple contract opportunities to support JTAC training, and most do not require sophisticated or high-speed aircraft. Air Force Special Operations Command wants contractor close air support to train JTACs at nine Army bases, including Forts Bliss, Riley, Hood, Carson, Campbell, Drum, Bragg, Stewart and Polk in, respectively, New Mexico, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Kentucky, New York, California Georgia and Louisiana. The list of acceptable aircraft includes (but is not limited to) the Alpha jet, A-4, L-39, L-59, BAC-167, MB-339, L-159E, AT-6, A-29 Super Tucano, Short Tucano, IAR-823 Brasov, SIAI-Marchetti SF260 and OV-10 Bronco.