New threats and technology
From a tactics perspective, overseas
operations in Afghanistan and Iraq
had a significant impact on TOPGUN’s
curriculum, as the school sought to
increase its grasp of everyday needs —
introducing a plethora of air-to-ground
weaponry and close air support phases.
Air-to-air tactics also changed mid-
decade, as foreign threats and capabilities
increased, requiring new and innovative
tactics to counter them.
TOPGUN said goodbye to the F-14
Tomcat in late 2003 and welcomed its
second batch of F-16s, this time former
Pakistani F-16A/Bs, as adversary aircraft.
TOPGUN also took its first F/A-18E/F Super
Hornets as the aircraft entered service in
2001 and later in 2006 as the improved
Block II Super Hornets joined the fleet.Adapting to the tactical needs of the Block
II was much easier for TOPGUN, versus
the early model Super Hornets, as the
latter were not available to TOPGUN in
large numbers. As the decade came to an
end, TOPGUN helped the EA-18G Growler
community stand up its own school at
Fallon, called the Airborne Electronic
Attack Weapons School (HAVOC).
In many respects, TOPGUN’s experiences
in the 2010s have shown great similarity
to the late 1960s, when the school was
founded. Funds were short, people were
leaving the navy, and much faith was
being placed in new technology in the
form of the F-35C Lightning II. As further
coincidence to those days, the F-35C (like
the F-4 Phantom II) lacks an internal gun.
Given the past decade of almost exclusive
air-to-ground operations in the MiddleEast, many in Washington questioned the
continuing need for a historically air-to-air
training program.
Even so, TOPGUN has been busy re-
defining its role, preparing for the arrival
of the F-35C and establishing a new voice
in the Pentagon acquisition process.
After weathering several years of funding
cuts and maintenance issues, TOPGUN
is now seeing improvements in aircraft
availability for its students and instructors
and is working to obtain new adversary
aircraft to replace its ageing F-16A/Bs.
TOPGUN has also been working
diligently since 2014 to prepare for
the arrival of the first F-35C students,
expected in January 2020. Unlike its
access to Super Hornets in the late 1990s
and early 2000s, TOPGUN has worked
closely with the F-35C training command
and the Marine Corps to develop tactics
for the F-35C and to integrate the
platform into carrier operations, so that
F-35C SFTIs will be able to ‘hit the ground
running’. TOPGUN will receive its first
F-35Cs in 2020.
Tactics also continue to evolve as the US
faces a ‘near-peer’ threat from China and
Russia as significant as it faced during
the height of the Cold War. TOPGUN is
refining its air-to-air and air-to-ground
tactics and is working to develop
counters against a returning nemesis —
long-range bombers with long-range
cruise missiles that can threaten carrier
strike groups.Above: The F-16A/
Bs are flown
by TOPGUN
instructors,
who are the
aficionados of
air-to-air combat
in the US Navy.
Jamie Hunter
Left: A TOPGUN
instructor,
wearing the
trademark pale
blue t-shirt under
his flight suit, pre-
flights his F-16A at
NAS Fallon.
Jamie Hunterhttp://www.combataircraft.net // September 2019 93
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