Combat aircraft

In addition, the station is home to

VFC-13 ‘Saints’, which  ies the F-5N/F

Tiger II in the  eet support role. This

squadron is tasked with providing

adversary ‘Red Air’ for a range of

customers, including certain elements of

the TOPGUN course and for visiting  eet

squadrons.

Fallon is all about tactical training —

therefore, it forms an integral element of

unit work-ups prior to combat

deployments. Squadrons come here for

unit-level evolutions such as the Strike

Fighter Advanced Readiness Program

(SFARP) training syllabus, which is

intended to maximize the tactical

pro ciency of strike  ghter aircrews

across the full spectrum of mission sets.

The base hosts Air Wing Fallon, where

the entire Carrier Air Wing (CVW) comes

together to hone its joint war ghting

skills, one of the  nal phases of training

ahead of a cruise.

In forthcoming issues, Combat Aircraft

will detail the various aspects of

operations at NAS Fallon, including

details of VFA-103 on SFARP and

culminating with an exclusive behind-

the-scenes look at TOPGUN, which

marks its 50th anniversary next year.

F/A-18C BuNo 164066/22

is now on TOPGUN’s books,

retaining the colors worn

with its former owner VFC-12

‘Fighting Omars’.

Above: One of

the new TOPGUN

F-16A schemes.

The lightweight

and fast F-16

serves as a useful

adversary aircraft

to test TOPGUN

students in air

combat.

Right: Selected

TOPGUN

instructors are

selected to fl y the

school’s stunning

F-16A/Bs in the

adversary role.

NAWDC’s ‘HAVOC’ Airborne

Electronic Attack Weapons

School operates its own

EA-18G Growlers.

BASE REPORT // NAS FALLON

82 June 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

80-83 Fallon C.indd 82 19/04/2018 15:37