CRS INSIGHT
Contracting the Adversary
November 16, 2017 (IN10818)
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Jeremiah Gertler
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Jeremiah Gertler, Specialist in Military Aviation (jgertler@crs.loc.gov, 7-5107)
With the military services looking to alleviate shortages of pilots and publicly admitting
shortages in readiness, the Navy and Air Force have begun to look to contracting out some
kinds of pilot training—specifically the live simulation of enemy aircraft.
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.
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
