Despite the strained relations with the United States recently, the Americans still have a lot to learn. For example, patriotism and how to preserve material evidence of one's own and someone else's history.
In this publication, we will talk about aviation, and this time we will not dwell on samples of rare armored vehicles in private hands and in museum exhibitions and numerous ships-monuments, of which there are, perhaps, more in America than in all other countries combined.
The pages of "Military Review" have repeatedly published articles on the history of the appearance, testing and operation of Soviet military aircraft in the United States (Soviet fighters in the US Air Force).
In the United States, they are very careful and sensitive to old aircraft from the Second World War and the Cold War. And not only of their own production, but also of their opponents.
In addition to fairly fresh samples, in the hands of private owners there are replicas of newly built or carefully restored aircraft of the 30-40s. Such Soviet rarities as I-15, I-153, I-16, Po-2, Yak-3 and Yak-9U are regularly shown at aviation holidays and exhibitions.
According to the register of the Federal Aviation Administration, about 600 units of aircraft manufactured in the USSR and Eastern Europe are in private hands in the United States. This list includes only equipment with valid airworthiness certificates, and does not include hundreds of museum exhibits, combat aircraft and helicopters belonging to the Air Force and Navy, as well as flightless specimens rusting at various airfields. The leader is the piston Yak-52, of which there are 176 aircraft.
The list does not include passenger and transport vehicles owned by private companies engaged in passenger and cargo transportation. For example, the An-12 and An-26 built in the USSR by SRX / Avialeasing, based in Opa-Loka, near Miami, and performing cargo transportation in the Caribbean and Latin America.
After the end of the Cold War, a large number of combat aircraft from the Air Forces of the countries of Eastern Europe and the former republics of the USSR, in addition to the testing and training centers of the US Department of Defense, ended up in the hands of private owners. American law allows, subject to certain procedures, to register them as civil aircraft.
Satellite image of Google Earth: Reno airfield, Nevada
Currently in the United States, about a hundred jet winged aircraft have been certified as airworthy. These are mainly the former Polish MiG-15 UTI and MiG-17, the Czechoslovakian trainers L-29 and L-39, received from Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, the MiG-21 of various modifications, as well as the MiG-29. Currently flying machines are mainly combat training "twin", exported for the most part from Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.
All of these aircraft are used in different ways. Most of them, in the hands of amateur enthusiasts and wealthy collectors, rise into the air no more than once or twice a month. They fly during various aviation holidays, promotions, demonstrations or “for the soul”. It should be understood that the operation and maintenance of combat jet aircraft in flight is a very costly business, in addition, the bulk of these aircraft are of a very advanced age and a small residual resource.
Some combat training vehicles, such as the L-29, L-39, MiG-15 UTI, MiG-21UM and MiG-29UB, are used as “flying attractions”. The cost of a half-hour flight on the MiG-21UM starts at $ 5,000. For comparison: in Russia, the Strana Turism company, which organizes flights from the factory Sokol airfield, asks for a 25-minute flight to the MiG-29UB 550,000 rubles.
MiG-29UB of the private military airline Air USA
Flights for everyone in the United States on two-seater MiG-29s are provided by Air USA, the founder of which is Don Kirlin. Currently, there are 30 combat aircraft at his private airbase. These are Soviet MiG-21, Czech L-39 and L-59, Romanian IAR 823, German Alpha Jet and British Hawk.
"Alpha Jet" of the private military airline Air USA
According to the businessman himself, the real adornment of the collection is two MiG-29s, exported from Kyrgyzstan and subsequently overhauled. Don Kirlin's first combat training MiG-29 took to the skies in 2010 and was named Natasha. Air USA's primary home base is Quincy, Illinois.
Satellite image of Google Earth: MiG-29 at the Quincy airfield
However, the main source of income for Don Kirlin airline is not entertainment flights. Air USA is a permanent contractor for the US and Canadian Defense Departments in the organization of combat training.
Air USA aircraft perform more than 90% of flights in the interests of the military. In this case, flight missions can be very different, but basically they are imitation of enemy aircraft in close air combat and with low-altitude interception, training air defense calculations, testing radar and practicing electronic warfare tasks. Air USA works closely with Northrop Grumman, Boeing and BAE to provide military services.
From the beginning of 2003 to the end of 2014 in the interests of military customers, 5722 flights were performed with a total duration of 12,573 hours. If you believe the information posted on the company's website, "successful missions" were 98.7%. It must be assumed that the "successful mission" means the fulfillment of the flight mission.
Much rarer in America compared to the MiG-29 is the Su-27. The first information about the Su-27 in the United States appeared about 15 years ago. Allegedly, Ukraine provided one aircraft for a not very long period for testing and testing. Allegedly, the Su-27 delivered the Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan to the United States and back. In the past, despite publications in the media, the US and Ukrainian authorities declined to comment on the issue.
A well-known fact is the purchase of two Su-27s (single and twin) in Ukraine by Prude Aurcraft. Both fighters were certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration in December 2009.
Su-27UB of the private airline Pride Aircraft
There are many dubious moments in this story with the purchase of Pride Aircraft in Ukraine of Su-27 fighters. Initially, the company, founded in 1989, was engaged in the restoration of used piston aircraft such as the T-28 and P-51. After renovation, they were put up for sale to private collectors or to participate in aviation exhibitions or races.
After the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, a lot of inexpensive used jet vehicles appeared on the market, and Pride Aircraft took over them. At first they were: TS-11 Iskra, MiG-15, MiG-17, VAS 167 Strikemaster.
In addition to "foreign cars", F-86 and T-33 underwent repair and restoration. However, the Czechoslovak L-39 Albatross became a real gold mine for Pride Aircraft. The first such restored aircraft to receive an American airworthiness certificate was sold in 1996.
L-39 remanufactured and sold by Pride Aircraft (photo from the company's website)
In general, the company was doing well, and there was a steady demand for its services. But Pride Aircraft has never, neither before nor after the purchase of the Su-27, engaged in modern fighters, especially heavy ones. Most likely, in this story, a rather small private airline engaged in the restoration and sale of used aircraft was used as a dummy buyer in a deal with Ukraine, and the US Department of Defense became the real acquirer of the Su-27. This is indirectly confirmed by the fact that both Su-27s are not currently in the Pride Aircraft fleet.
In early September 2015, a note appeared on the "Military Review" in the "News" section: "The United States plans to conduct training battles between the F-35 Lightning II and" Russian fighters ".
It literally said the following, a quote: “The US Air Force is planning to conduct a series of training battles with the participation of light fighters of the fifth generation F-35 Lightning II, based at Edwards airbase, writes“Rossiyskaya Gazeta”. The A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft belonging to the American private company Draken International, which specializes in providing services for simulating the enemy in training battles, was chosen as the enemy for the American aircraft. At the same time, the US military does not hide the fact that the pilots will master the tactics of combat with Russian planes."
This publication caused a real flurry of jingoistic patriotic comments. They say that the Americans are afraid to converge even in a training battle with the Russian fighters they have.
Of course, the A-4 Skyhawk, which ended production in 1979, is by no means a worthy opponent for the F-35. But "joint maneuvering" with a light subsonic jet aircraft, which has some characteristics similar to those of generation 2-3 light fighters, will help to work out typical attack and evasion techniques. And in general, it will improve the flight qualifications of the F-35 pilots, who have just begun to master this still very "raw" aircraft that has not got rid of "childhood diseases".
As for the MiGs and Sues available in the United States, there is no doubt that they will also meet in training matches with the F-35, just not the fact that this information will be widely publicized in the foreseeable future.
A-4 Skyhawk of Draken International
In addition to Skyhawks, the largest private airline in the United States, Draken International, which specializes in providing services to the military, has a total of more than 50 aircraft. Including Aero L-159E and L-39, Aermacchi MB-339CB, MiG-21bis and UM. All aircraft of the company, flying in the interests of the Pentagon, are in very good technical condition and regularly undergo scheduled and refurbishment repairs. The main base of the company's fleet is Lakeland Linderw Airfield, Florida.
Satellite image of Google Earth: Draken International aircraft at Lakeland airfield
Draken International has a variety of equipment at its disposal, including simulators, various simulators, radar and electronic warfare equipment. This allows, if necessary, to bring training air battles as close to reality as possible.
Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (abbreviated as ATAC) is another major American private airline that has combat aircraft at its disposal.
This organization is headquartered in Newport News, Virginia. There, at the Williamsburg airfield, aircraft belonging to the company is based and serviced.
Satellite image of Google Earth: ATAC aircraft at Williamsburg airfield
The main field of activity of the company, founded by the American retired military in 1996, is the provision of services for imitation of enemy combat aircraft within the framework of air combat training and training of ground and naval air defense systems within the framework of outsourcing to the US armed forces. The company currently employs 22 pilots and more than 50 support personnel. At the same time, the aircraft fleet in mid-2014 consisted of 25 units.
Initially, ATAC had MiG-17, A-4 Skyhawk and L-39 aircraft at its disposal. But after a while, the pilots and management of the company concluded that these machines were not able to fully withstand the fighters in service with the Air Force and Navy in training battles. In addition, the existing aircraft did not satisfy in terms of flight duration and range when performing tasks for training air defense calculations.
As an alternative, Soviet-made aircraft MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-29, which could be obtained from the countries of Eastern Europe, were considered. But due to the fact that these aircraft, as a rule, required large investments and original spare parts, they were abandoned. The refusal to use Soviet-made combat aircraft by ATAS for training flights in the interests of the US Department of Defense is largely due to the fact that the intensity of such flights is quite high. The total flight time of the company's aircraft, carried out in the interests of the American military, exceeded 34,000 hours.
The Airborne Tactical Advantage Company fleet is based in various regions where there are US military airfields. Being at the same airfields with American combat aircraft in service, they work out a variety of flight training missions. On a permanent basis, aircraft belonging to ATAS are located at air bases: Point Mugu (California), Fallon (Nevada), Kaneohe Bay (Hawaii), Zweibruecken (Germany) and Atsugi (Japan).
Satellite image of Google Earth: ATAC aircraft at Point Mugu airbase
Most of the company's fleet includes aircraft manufactured in the late 70s - mid 80s. Aircraft purchased in different countries for a reasonable price, despite their decent age, are in good technical condition and, as a rule, have a large residual resource.
The painstaking work of technicians and mechanics serving these aircraft plays the main role in maintaining the aircraft in proper condition. In addition, together with the aircraft, a set of certified spare parts is purchased at the same time, which allows them to be maintained in flight condition for a long time.
ATAS Hawker Hunter MK.58
Different aircraft in the ATAS fleet perform different tasks. "Hunters" in training flights usually depict enemy attack aircraft trying to break through to a protected object at a low altitude or conducting electronic suppression of air defense systems. In addition, the Hunters are used as aerial target towing vehicles.
In addition to shock training missions, Skyhawks in the past have often imitated Soviet anti-ship missiles of the P-15 family in attacks on US Navy warships. When flying at maximum speed and the corresponding RCS parameters, these small maneuverable attack aircraft were most similar in their characteristics to Soviet anti-ship missiles. To create an appropriate jamming environment, the Hunter or Albatross covering the Skyhawks carried containers with electronic warfare equipment.
For training air battles, most often used are Kfir fighters, produced in Israel in the mid-80s and modernized in the 90s. In the United States, these aircraft received the designation F-21. According to the US Air Force specialists, the modernized "Kfirs" in their combat capabilities are located between the Soviet MiG-21bis and the Chinese J-10.
F-21 KFIR owned by Airborne Tactical Advantage Company
Despite the seeming technical lag behind modern fighters, the Kfirov pilots very often managed to put American pilots on the F / A-18F and F-15C in a difficult position in close maneuvering combat.
Even the superiority of the newest F-22A in training air battles was not always unconditional. Some flight modes of Kfir fighters, built according to the tailless scheme with PGO, turned out to be unavailable for American aircraft. According to the results of battles in 2012 with the F-35B fighter from an experimental batch supplied by the US ILC, it was recognized: "A promising fighter supplied by Lockheed Martin needs further improvement and testing of aerial combat techniques."
Such results of training battles are largely due to the high qualifications and vast experience of the ATAS pilots. They themselves used to fly many fighters, which now confront them in training battles. Naturally, the Kfir pilots were well aware of the capabilities of most types of fighter aircraft in service in the United States. At the same time, the bulk of the American combat pilots were not aware of the capabilities and characteristics of the Kfirs. In addition, unlike Air Force and Navy combat pilots, ATAS pilots are not bound by so many rules and restrictions. In total, the pilots flying the Kfirs flew more than 2000 hours during training missions, which indicates a high intensity of flights and a large number of training battles.
To record the results of training air battles, special control and fixing equipment was installed on ATAS aircraft, which subsequently allows detailed analysis of flights. To fully simulate a combat situation, the company's aircraft carry electronic warfare equipment and suspended simulators of melee missiles with TGS. This allows for a real grip with the homing head, which increases the realism and reliability of the results of the fight.
ATAS technicians according to the terms of reference received from the US Navy, together with partners from the Israeli aerospace company NAVAIR and the American "Martin Baker" have developed and installed several options for equipment in overhead containers. This equipment reproduces radio-frequency radiation of on-board navigation and radar systems of Soviet and Russian combat aircraft and anti-ship missiles. Also, a replaceable set of container-type equipment has been developed, which allows jamming in the frequency spectrum at which the Patriot and Standard air defense missile systems' detection and guidance systems operate.
Together with French specialists from MBDA, an outboard simulator of the Exocet AM39 anti-ship missile system was created, which reproduces the operation of a radio altimeter and an active radar impulse homing head. RCC "Exocet" is widespread in the world and, in the opinion of American sailors, poses a great threat to the ships of the US Navy.
The presence of equipment in removable overhead containers makes it possible to bring the situation at the exercises as close as possible to a real combat one. And create a complex jamming background, which gives invaluable experience to radar operators and air defense calculations. Major exercises using aircraft and equipment owned by this company are regularly conducted with ships and aircraft of the US Navy on both the west and east coasts.
ATAS technicians and specialists, in addition to playing for the "bad guys" (in American terminology), also participate in various test and test flights conducted as part of the creation and modernization of missile and aircraft systems and weapons.
The commercial success of private military airlines is due to the desire of the leadership of the US Department of Defense to save money on the process of combat training without losing quality.
The cost of a flight hour of private jet aircraft is much cheaper. The personnel of private companies working under an agreement with the Ministry of Defense do not need to pay pensions, health insurance and severance pay from the state budget. All expenses for the maintenance and repair of aircraft participating in the training flights are borne by private contractors. In addition, this allows you to save the resource of combat aircraft.
The use of non-operational aircraft in the process of combat training makes it possible to diversify the scenarios of training air battles and better prepare combat pilots for various situations that may arise in a real combat situation.
Currently, the number of combat aircraft, formally considered civilian, in private airlines that provide services to the US military, is more than a hundred. This number is comparable to the number of Air Force aircraft in a country like Spain.
And although now, albeit not the newest and most modern, but still quite combat-ready aircraft of private aviation companies are used only for training missions, in the future they will most likely be used to provide air support for land operations by private military companies. And also for airspace control, in armed conflicts around the world, in cases where the American government is not interested, for one reason or another, to use regular armed forces.
