U.S. Air Force/U.S. Navy Aggressors

I think aggressor air training units are a cool concept. Take U.S. aircraft and make them look Soviet, North Korean, or Iraqi.

I know the USAF has disbanded their aggressors, but what about the Navy? What aircraft do they use? Last time I heard, they used:

A-4E Skyhawk
F-5E Tiger II
F-16N Aggressor
F/A-18A Hornet

Why would they disband them in the first place?

I have never heard of these planes, but i can give you a few reasons why they might have been removed from service. Any sophisticated enemy keeps track of thier own aircraft, and would know by radar which ones werent theirs. If the enemy isnt sophisticated, then our aircraft have a very minute chance of being shot down. Another reason - our modern aircraft are unmatched in ability (I can already hear the Russian supporters getting mad at me for that one).

But really when you look at it, our airsupperiority fighter, the F-15 is flawless in air to air combat - tallying over a hundred kills without a single loss. And now we are on our next generation fighter, the F-22 raptor, which has stealth, supercruise, and the absolute best avionics, computers, and targeting systems to date.

It basically boils down to the fact that the US doesnt need to pretend to be the enemy to get what it wants done.

I know that they used to use Mirages, Migs, and F-5s as aggressors.

Originally posted by sweatmonicaIdo
I think aggressor air training units are a cool concept. Take U.S. aircraft and make them look Soviet, North Korean, or Iraqi.

I know the USAF has disbanded their aggressors, but what about the Navy? What aircraft do they use? Last time I heard, they used:

A-4E Skyhawk
F-5E Tiger II
F-16N Aggressor
F/A-18A Hornet

Why would they disband them in the first place?

I've never heard of these squadrans being disbanded. They are the foundation of the Air Force and Navy fighter training program. Even if the cold war if over, there is still a need to train our fighter pilots in air to air combat.

Tim

The Butcher:

Umm... I think you're a bit confused. Aggressors are training units, not frontline combat units. They used for training (or were) to simulate enemy fighters so their pilots would know how to fight against them.

I don't see why you would remove training units from duty.

The Air Force Aggressor squadron out of Nellis was put to death some time in the late 80s or early 90s, I can find out for sure when. The flew the F-5s and F-16s. I have some gun tape from them and it is pretty impressive. Not sure why they were put to death. They DID NOT fly Migs, but the instructors did train against Migs.

The Navy's Aggressor squadron is called Top Gun, I heard they made a movie about it.

Excuse me but you guys haven't stayed up to date with what's going on out at Nellis AFB.

The 64th Aggressor Squadron was reactivated on October 3rd, 2003, (they are based out at Nellis).
Right now they are using F-16's (block 30's I think) and Lt. Col. Edward Ingham is currently in command.

They are small, but growing... scheduled to get some retired F-15's out of Langley AFB when the F-22's start coming into that facility.

intelgurl





[Edited on 11-2-2004 by intelgurl]

Originally posted by sweatmonicaIdo
I think aggressor air training units are a cool concept. Take U.S. aircraft and make them look Soviet, North Korean, or Iraqi.

I know the USAF has disbanded their aggressors, but what about the Navy? What aircraft do they use? Last time I heard, they used:

A-4E Skyhawk
F-5E Tiger II
F-16N Aggressor
F/A-18A Hornet

Why would they disband them in the first place?

USAF got rid of them casue now they can train aginst Gearmn Luftwaffe MiG-29's

Intelgurl,
do you have any more information on this new squadron?

Originally posted by Solarix
Intelgurl,
do you have any more information on this new squadron?

What do you want?
I don't know their shoe sizes - I just know they exist...

The Navy moved this operation to NAS Fallon and yes they still fly. What all aircraft are used I'm not sure. I do see them flying from time to time in the R2508 airspace.