Karo-Aviation
visit VFC-13 at NAS Fallon 2015-3
Article and pictures by Ronald de Roij
NAS Fallon and the Fallon Range Training Complex are the Navy's premier
integrated strike warfare training facilities. Its mission is to support
carrier air wings preparing for deployment and to host joint and
multinational training and exercises.
Naval Air Station Fallon traces its origins to 1942, As part of the
Western Defence Program, initiated to repel an expected Japanese attack
on the west coast. As the war progressed and the possibility off on
invasion dropped, it became a base to train pilots in a realistic
environment which included the construction off target ranges. In the
years that followed the training facility’s where expanded to their
present form . In the early 90’s a new hangar, ramp and academic
building were built in 1995 to accommodate the arrival of Navy Fighter
Weapons School (TOPGUN) and Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons
School (Top Dome) from San Diego to Fallon in early 1996. With the
transfer off NAS Miramar to the USMC the Naval Strike and Air Warfare
Centre (NSAWC) was commissioned at Fallon NAS. Combining the functions
of TOPGUN, the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School and the
Naval Strike Warfare Centre into one command. At the same time VFC-13
moved to Fallon replacing VFA-127 in the adversary role.
"VFC-13 is no exception when it comes to
non-standard camouflage schemes for aggressor aircraft. The
squadron's F-5s wear a variety of colour schemes to
represent a foreign adversary." |
The concept of aggressor units started
as a direct result of the high air combat loss rate experienced in the
Vietnam War. The air-to-air kill ratio had fallen from 10 to 1 in the
Korean War to almost 1 to 1 at a low point of the Vietnam War.
It seemed like a good idea at the time. To take a group of crack fighter
pilots, weapons school graduates, and guys who flew in combat in
Vietnam. Give them free access to intelligence sources so they know
exactly what the enemy's doing. Give theme some airplanes that look and
act like enemy airplanes. Then let them go out and fly against our own
pilots and show them what the enemy might look like in a real war.
This Concept was first adopted by US Navy Fighter Weapons School, better
known as ‘Top Gun’. They employed the venerable Douglas A-4 Skyhawk in
the role of enemy aircraft, simulating aircraft like the Mig-19 to give
navy pilots a first taste of the real action. The success of formalized
Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) led to transition of Navy
Instrument Training Squadrons equipped with the A-4 into Adversary
Squadrons at each master jet base
As real enemy aircraft were not “available” for the adversary task so
readily available service aircraft were used as surrogate airframes, but
presented in such a manner as to imitate an enemy aircraft. Wearing
distinctly different camouflage markings and adorned with large RED
aircraft numbers.
Units tasked with providing this type of training took great pride in
studying the tactics, operational idiosyncrasies and military procedures
of the enemy they were trying to emulate. These processes go so far that
when entering the squadron building you can compare it with a “Russian”
squadron, something the squadrons take great pride in.
From the beginning of the program the Navy has used the Northrop F-5
Tiger as its main aggressor aircraft next to the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk.
While aircraft used for the aggressor role are usually older jet
fighters, this has not always been the case.
During the mid-1980s, the US Navy determined that the A-4s and F-5s
flown at Top Gun were not adequate in simulating the air-to-air
capabilities of the newest Russian fighters such as the MiG-29 and Su27.
At this point, the most agile American fighter was arguably the F-16,
but this land-based jet was not flown by the US Navy.
The Navy thus asked General Dynamics to design and build a variant of
the F-16 specifically for the Navy Adversary role. Any equipment not
necessary for visual-range aerial combat was removed enhancing their
agility and dog fighting abilities.
These F-16s were designated F-16N, and twenty-two were built for the US
Navy and flown at its famous “TOPGUN” Navy Fighter Weapons School
starting in 1987 as well as with VF-43, VF-45 and VF-126, which were
still active duty Adversary squadrons at the time.
However, due to the unusually frequent high loads imposed on these
aircraft, cracks were detected on the wings after only a few years of
operation, leading to the retirement of the F-16N in 1994. In 2002 the
Navy began to receive fourteen F-16 A and B models from AMARC that were
brand new aircraft originally intended for Pakistan, but had been
embargoed. All 14 are operated by NSAWC for use by TOPGUN in addition
to the F/A-18A aircraft already in operation at Fallon.
"Aggressor squadrons in the
US Navy include VFC-12 (NAS Oceana), VFC-13 (NAS Fallon) and
VFC-111 (NAS Key West) as well as the famous “TOPGUN” Naval
Fighter Weapons School (US Navy) which is not a squadron per
se, but operates F-16A aircraft as part of the Naval Strike
and Air Warfare Center at NAS Fallon." |
Fighter Squadron Composite 13
VFC-13 provides adversary training for regular Navy fleet and
replacement squadrons and air wings, reserve fighter and attack
squadrons, USAF and USMC units, and Canadian forces.
The "Fighting Saints" of VFC-13 can trace their origins back to 1946,
when VF-753 was commissioned flying F6F-5 "Hellcats." Today's squadron
was formed on Sept. 1, 1973, at NAS. New Orleans during the
reorganization of the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Initially, the squadron operated the Chance Vought F-8H "Crusader" with
a complement of 17 officers and 127 enlisted men, former members of
VSF-76 and VSF-86. In April 1974, the "Saints" made the transition to
the single-seat A-4L "Skyhawk."
As the demand for west coast adversary services and other fleet support
missions increased, the squadron was permanently transferred to NAS
Miramar, arriving there in February 1976. That summer, a transition was
made from the A-4L to the more reliable two-seat TA-4J. The year 1983
marked the return of the single seat aircraft to VFC-13 and the arrival
of the A-4E.
October 1993 marked the end of an era when VFC-13 made the transition to
the single-seat, two engine F/A-18 "Hornet." This change further
enhanced the squadron's ability to perform its adversary mission by
providing an even more capable and realistic threat aircraft. In April
1996, the command relocated to NAS Fallon and made the transition to the
F-5E/F Tiger II.
The U.S. Navy and Marine F-5 fleet was modernized with the purchased 44
low-hour F-5E's from Switzerland. The Swiss F-5Es averaged only
about 2,500 hours on the airframe, while the U.S. Navy's Tiger IIs
averaged about 7,000 flight hours. The Swiss aircraft also were built
with Improved Handling Quality systems, sharper noses, and improved
leading edge roots on the wings and automatic flaps, giving them better
performance than the U.S. Navy's F-5Es. Deliveries of the Swiss F-5Es
commenced in 2003 at the rate of about one per month.
Each conversion
took about 5 months. During the upgrade structural elements where
replaced when needed and Fatigue critical components were replaced, and
areas of the aft fuselage subject to high fatigue were refurbished.
Newly designed uppercockpit longerons were installed, increasing the
airframe's integrity. The aircraft also were given an avionics upgrade,
bringing them into the twenty-first century.
A navigation/radar display
kit replaced five legacy components - the inertial navigation system,
inertial navigation display system (INDS) adapter, magnetic azimuth
indicator, radar video indicator, and radar control - with two
state-of-the-art line replaceable units (LRUs). The kit includes the
LN-260, Northrup Grumman's new inertial navigation system. Completely
integrated with a twenty-four-channel, selective
availability/anti-spoofing modulecompliant embedded GPS receiver, the
LN-260 uses an advanced fiber optic gyroscope-based inertial sensor
assembly.
Its open-system architecture is designed to be readily
adaptable to new applications and new system requirements that
improve performance of mission equipment and flight control systems. A
new integrated control display unit and radar display were part of
the panel upgrade.
The aircraft also were completely rewired. A new
gaseous oxygensystem replaced the legacy liquid oxygen system to reduce
costs, and an anti-skid braking system was added to help bring the
aircraft to a safe stop on wet runways. The resulting variant of the
single-seat F-5E is the F-5N. Forty-one were created, along with three
two-seat trainers, which retain the two-seater's designation as the
F-5F. Also known as F-5F "FrankenTiger", the product of grafting the
older front-half fuselage of an F-5F into the back-half fuselage of a
newer low-hours F-5E acquired from the Swiss Air Force. A total of three
"FrankenTigers" were made
"The F-5 Tiger II was originally chosen by
the US military for this role as a result of its similarity
to the abundant MiG-21 Fishbed. Even though many of today's
potential threats come from the more capable MiG-29 Fulcrum
and Su-27 Flanker, the F-5 is still seen as a valuable tool " |
In January 2006, VFC-13 established a permanent detachment of 12
aircraft at NAS Key West, Florida for East Coast training. Subsequently,
in the fall of 2006, the VFC-13 Key West detachment was re-designated as
a separate squadron, VFC-111, with an assignment of one F-5F and 10
F-5N. In parallel, the eleven aircraft strength of VFC-13 at NAS Fallon
was increased to 17 F-5s.
We thank PAO Zip Upham for arranging our visit to VFC-13 and the
staff off VFC-13 for their hospitality and help during our visit.
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