Combat Aircraft – September 2019

I

N MARCH, THE Navy Fighter

Weapons School, otherwise known

as TOPGUN, marked the 50th

anniversary of the graduation of

its  rst class. Eight students — four

pilots and four Radar Intercept

O cers (RIOs) from F-4 Phantom II  ghter

squadrons — completed the then four-

week course and received a blue and red

shoulder patch that is still revered today.

Five decades later, TOPGUN is going

strong and continues in the traditions of

its founders, having a huge impact on all

of US naval aviation.

It’s well documented that TOPGUN

originated as a result of dismal air-to-air

combat results in the Vietnam War. While

US  ghters had traditionally achieved

signi cant kill ratios against enemy air

forces in World War Two and in Korea,

navy and US Air Force crews fared far

worse in Vietnam, with kill ratios running

at roughly 2:1 when Operation ‘Rolling

Thunder’ came to an end in the fall of

1968. Against a foe that was numerically
      and technologically inferior, these results
      were startling. Aircrews had become over-
      reliant on new air-to-air missiles, which
      promised to kill enemy aircraft at great
      distances, thereby eliminating the need to
      dog ght. When they got into close-in air
      combat, the crews simply lacked the skills
      required to win. So con dent were the
      manufacturers and navy o cials in their
      new Phantom interceptor and its missiles,
      that they designed the aircraft without a
      gun. Only the F-8 Crusader community,
      with a gun ghter that held on to its

historical day  ghter dog ghting role,

succeeded — scoring a 6.3:1 kill ratio.

Fighter fixer

To address the poor performance,

navy leadership commissioned CAPT

Frank Ault to study the problem and

present recommendations. Ault did

just that, and on January 1, 1969, he

formally presented his  ndings in

the report of the Air-to-Air Missile

System Capability Review — now

known as the Ault Report. This set

forth some 242 recommendations

for improving weapons systems,

weapons maintenance and crew

training. Of these recommendations, one

specially called for the establishment — as

early as possible — of an advanced  ghter

The US Navy’s TOPGUN fi ghter weapons school is marking 50 years of training.

Combat Aircraft charts its history and success and fi nds a center of excellence

that is adapting for the future.

REPORT Brad Elward

86 September 2019 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

86-93 TOPGUN at 50 C.indd 86 18/07/2019 13:15