USAF REVEALS ADAIR DETAILS
CONTRACTOR AIR SERVICES CONTINUE TO IMPROVE OFFERING
T
HE US AIR Force has
released more details of
its adversary air (AdAir)
requirement. In January, it
published a requirements
document regarding
the increased use of contractor-
owned, contractor-operated (COCO)
adversary aircraft.
The USAF awarded a one-year
contract to Draken Internationalin 2015 for a ‘proof-of-concept’
evaluation at Nellis AFB, Nevada,
that involved the use of its radar-
equipped A-4K Skyhawks supporting
the resident 64th Aggressor
Squadron. This has not only been
extended, but expanded with the
deployment of Draken’s new Aero
Vodochody L-159 ‘Honey Badgers’.
The follow-on AdAir II contract
will take the Nellis requirement intothe future, with a formal solicitation
expected in February. This is now
being released separately to the
larger Combat Air Forces (CAF)
requirement for up to 37,000 hours
of contracted support at 12 bases,
which is now expected in 2019.
Contractors say the Nellis
requirement is very speci c, with
ve objective and ve threshold
requirements.LIGHTNING II LATEST
THE USAF HAS selected facilities
in Wisconsin and Alabama as its
preferred locations for the next two
Air National Guard F-35A bases.
Wisconsin’s 115th Fighter Wing and
Alabama’s 187th Fighter Wing are
respectively based at Dane County
Regional Airport-Truax Field in
Madison and Montgomery Regional
Airport-Dannelly Field. Lightning II
deliveries to the Madison base are
expected to begin in early 2023,with Montgomery following later
that year. Both units, which currently
operate the Block 30 version of the
F-16C, were named as the preferred
alternatives for the basing and a
nal decision will be made after the
required environmental analysis is
complete. The service also named
Boise Airport-Gowen Field, Idaho,
Selfridge ANGB, Michigan and
Jacksonville International Airport,
Florida, as reasonable alternatives.In related news, the 13th Marine
Expeditionary Unit (MEU) has begun
preparations for its upcoming
deployment aboard the ships of the
USS Essex (LHD 3) amphibious ready
group (ARG). Marine medium tilt-rotor
squadron VMM-166 will serve as the
MEU’s Aviation Combat Element
(ACE). It will be the rst Stateside
unit to deploy with a detachment
of F-35Bs from Marine ghter attack
squadron VMFA-211 ‘Avengers’. In
preparation for the deployment the
MEU will conduct an intensive six-
month training work-up.F-35Bs operated by VMFA-
‘Green Knights’ will make their
debut deployment with the 31st
MEU aboard the amphibious assault
ship USS Wasp (LHD 1). The Wasp
changed its home port to Sasebo,
Japan, where it replaced the USS
Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) as the
forward-deployed agship of the US
Seventh Fleet’s amphibious forces.
The ship completed its 20,000-mile
(32,187km) transit from Norfolk,
Virginia, when it arrived in Japan on
January 14.
Meanwhile, the nal phase
of weapons delivery accuracy
(WDA) testing for the F-35 was
completed in early December. It
involved testing of the ghter’s
GAU-22 25mm gun, which is carried
internally on the F-35A and in an
external pod on the F-35B and
F-35C variants.
Conducted as part of
developmental test and evaluation
(DT&E), the WDA tests were
intended to ensure that the ghter’s
weapons system could deliver theAn F-35C assigned to VFA-125 ‘Rough Raiders’ awaits its next
mission aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)
on December 10, 2017, as it was under way in the Atlantic Ocean.
US Navy/MC3 Juan CubanoThe USAF plans to contract out up
to 5,600 ying hours of AdAir support
at Nellis alone. The multi-award
contract will be worth a maximum
of $280 million for one year, with
options for four more years. The 57th
Adversary Tactics Group at Nellis
hosted an industry day in January.
The USAF hasn’t speci ed what
it thinks is the best platform for
AdAir, but it says it wants an aircraft
capable of ying at Mach 1.5, with
a service ceiling of 35,000ft, and
a 45-60-minute ‘playtime’. The
contractor aircraft must be equipped
with a re control radar capable of
detecting, tracking, and simulating
enemy capabilities and be able to
replicate semi-active missiles out to
a range of 20nm, and active missiles
to 45nm, according to a new 2018
requirements document.
It said, ‘Within a month of contract
award, the service expects the
contractor to be able to y as many
as 22 sorties a day, with each sortie
averaging about 90 minutes. Tactical
pro les may include beyond visual
range engagements, operational
test support, dissimilar air combat
maneuvers, o ensive and defensive
within visual range maneuvers, multi-
ship tactics, and merges and ight.’Here and inset: TacAir has revealed two planned
schemes for its new fl eet of F-5Es. TacAir[NEWS] UNITED STATES
08 March 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
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