https://crsreports.congress.gov
August 5, 2020
Privatized Adversary Air Combat Training
With U.S. military services looking to alleviate shortages of
pilots and publicly admitting shortages in readiness, the
Navy, Marines, and Air Force have begun to contract out
some kinds of pilot training—specifically the live
simulation of enemy aircraft. This trend, coupled with the
worldwide rise in available military jets as air forces
modernize, has led to the emergence of a new private
industry offering adversary air combat training.
What is adversary air combat training?
Before the Vietnam War, American air forces trained
internally, with pilots flying against others in similar
aircraft using the same tactics. During that war, however,
the United States learned a great deal about modern
adversary tactics and the capabilities of the (mainly Soviet)
aircraft employed in that war, which often differed
markedly from what had been experienced in prewar
training. To spread those lessons and train pilots more
realistically, the U.S. Air Force and Navy began formal
programs of Dissimilar Air Combat Training, or DACT.
DACT pilots were trained in adversary tactics of the time,
and flew U.S. aircraft that most resembled expected
adversaries in performance, painted in foreign camouflage
to provide a more realistic image. Under then-classified
programs, the Air Force also acquired actual foreign aircraft
to better determine their characteristics.
The Air Force established Aggressor squadrons that
participated in large exercises and toured fighter bases to
provide realistic opposition during training rotations. The
Navy created adversary forces that flew as opposition to
pilots going through the TOPGUN senior fighter school.
Those programs continue to the present day.
Figure 1. Hunter, Kfir C.2, and L-139 Aircraft
Operated by ATAC
Source: ATAC/Textron.
How are private firms involved?
As global air forces modernized over the past two decades,
the wide availability of surplus third- and fourth-generation
fighter aircraft and high-performance jet trainers led to the
establishment of private companies providing “adversary
air” on a contract basis. Firms such as Draken International,
TopACES, Discovery Air, Tactical Air Support, and ATAC
initially provided services to foreign air forces whose
smaller fleets did not permit establishing their own
dedicated adversary forces.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force experimented with contract
adversary air in the mid-2010s and have subsequently
entered into major contracts. From the military perspective,
these services offer U.S. pilots the opportunity to fly against
a diversity of aircraft types without the overhead and
expense required to maintain a fleet of planes not otherwise
in inventory. Particularly in the case of the Air Force, which
has increasingly publicized a shortage of pilots, using
contractors to provide adversary air may free up
experienced uniformed pilots for other duties.
Figure 2. A-4 Aircraft
Operated by Draken International
Source: Draken International.
There is some precedent for privatization of military
support tasks; the U.S. Navy has also experimented with
contract aerial refueling services. Many foreign air forces,
including Britain, have given up or significantly curtailed
their own refueling operations in favor of contractors.
Although contractor fleets were initially equipped with
(often upgraded) trainer jets and second- and third-
generation fighters like the F-5 and Mirage F1, they are
rapidly modernizing to include fourth-generation fighters
such as F-16s and F-18s, acquired from foreign militaries’
surplus.
