NO(^48) THE MAGAZINE 01 49
SCANDINAVIAN
AVIATION MAGAZINE
Getting ready for 5th generation
Col. Themely continues: “The second part of
my vision is to also respond to the next demand,
which is the 5th generation aircraft. So, we are
obviously sending more and more students to
the F-35, to the F-22, and as seven of partner
nations out of the fourteen have bought the
F-35, we want to make sure that we continue
to provide the best training to get them to
that 5th generation platform.
Right now, our T-38 syllabus is designed for the
4th generation fighter, so we continuously have
to adapt that syllabus until we get the T-X, the
T-38 replacement, and be able to ensure that
we are giving our students every single bit of
information, sensor management, air-to-air
refueling, night vision goggles and all the things
that the T-X will bring us, to be able to better
prepare them for that next generation fighter.
All of those countries that bought the F-35 are
very interested in ensuring that we adapt our
syllabus, and to optimize the best way for the
least amount of cost, that we can train these
pilots to succeed on the next platform.”
The ENJJPT Program seems to hit the nail on
the head, and get the best out of everything, and
is incomparable and irreplaceable with anything
else. Lt. Col. Schumann explains: “I worked for
the German Air Force to look for other programs
throughout Europe, and even looked theoretically
at others outside Europe, such as China. The
conclusion was [simple]: ENJJPT is the best
program we can get - it’s the best, period.”
Col. Themely concludes: “We are super proud of
our program, and I think that all of the nations that
we have here are also very proud of it.”
The author would like to thank Debi Smith, Col.
Themely, Lt. Col. Roeine, Lt. Col. Hansen and Lt.
Col. Schumann for making this article possible.