F-14 Vs Everything: Video shows how the mighty Tomcat Could Dogfight and Win against (almost) any dissimilar aircraft

ADVERSARY! A QUICK LOOK AT THE AIRCRAFT FLOWN BY U.S. NAVAL AVIATORS TO PLAY THE BAD GUYS

By Dario Leone
Jan 26 2021
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To realistically carry out their duty U.S. Navy adversary pilots need the best aircraft to simulate the bandits during DACT sorties

Replicating the real world threat that American fighter pilots can encounter in an air-to-air engagement is the primary task of U.S. Navy adversary pilots, hence to realistically carry out their duty, they need the best aircraft to simulate the bandits during Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) sorties.

The story of the A-4 Mongoose, the light attack plane that became the perfect adversary aircraft

Noteworthy the U.S. Navy adversary units for almost twenty years flew two aircraft to replicate the enemy fighters.

Adversary! A quick look at the aircraft flown by U.S. Naval Aviators to play the bad guys

The first one has been the A-4 Skyhawk. This aircraft is possibly the best basic fighter maneuvering (BFM) trainer ever produced: ideal to represent old and slow fighters such as the MiG-17 as well as newer and more maneuverable soviet hardware such as the MiG-21, the A-4 was so agile that to win against it, the pilot had to perform properly his own BFM. The A-4 had an inferior weapon systems, but thanks to its maneuverability it was a handful in a visual engagement for both F-14 and F/A-18 pilots.

Used in the 1970s and in 1980s alongside the A-4 and still flown today by the adversary squadrons, the F-5 Tiger II remains the perfect aircraft to reproduce the MiG-23: fast and slick it is perfect to kill you unobserved. Even if it is not a great BFM fighter, the F-5 is reliable, easy to fly and ideal to simulate mass formations which could be met fighting against those countries that would mainly rely on their numerical superiority.

VFC-13 F-5N
This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. F-5N Tiger II VFC-13 Fighting Saints, AF02 / 761536 / 2017
Adversary! A quick look at the aircraft flown by U.S. Naval Aviators to play the bad guys

With the appearing of the new Soviet 4th generation fighters towards the end of the 1980s, a new adversary aircraft was conceived in the form of the F-16N Viper. Developed from the USAF front-line F-16 fighter, thanks to its modern avionics and its incredible maneuverability the F-16N has been the best all around adversary fighter. Moreover the F-16N great range allowed the instructors to face a first group of fighters leaving their Vipers with enough fuel to face a second fight. But the U.S. Navy decided to retire them in 1994 after cracks were discovered in several bulkheads of the aircraft as a result of the excessive g’s sustained by the fighters during many air engagements.

Adversary! A quick look at the aircraft flown by U.S. Naval Aviators to play the bad guys

Nevertheless since the F-16 remains the most accurate simulator of the land based 4th generation fighters, in 2002 the U.S. Navy procured twelve embargoed ex-Pakistani F-16s (in the form of ten F-16As and two F-16Bs), to train U.S. Naval Aviators against non carrier based airplanes.

Adversary! A quick look at the aircraft flown by U.S. Naval Aviators to play the bad guys

The F-14 Tomcat too was used to simulate Soviet 4th generation fighters. Used in the adversary role by both fleet squadrons (such as the Be-Devilers of VF-74) and Topgun, the F-14 proved to be an extremely effective aggressor, providing capabilities akin to those of the Su-27 and MiG-31.

The F/A-18 is the last adversary aircraft deployed by the U.S Navy to replicate the bandits. Like the Viper the Hornet and the Super Hornet are ideal to simulate modern fighters such as the MiG-29, the Su-27 and the Mirage 2000 as well as less capable aircraft such as the MiG-21 or the MiG-23 when the pilot limits the use of the radar or maneuverability. Nevertheless thanks to its tactics capability the F/A-18 gives the instructors a great deal of flexibility being able to cover the full range of potential threat aircraft. By contrast the type is not a dissimilar aircraft for the Navy since so many F/A-18s are in active service.

F/A-18A+ Hornet VFC-12 Ambush print
This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. F/A-18A+ Hornet VFC-12 Ambush, AF01 / 162904. TSW – 2014
Adversary! A quick look at the aircraft flown by U.S. Naval Aviators to play the bad guys

Anyway as one of Topgun’s main teaching points implies, it’s not the aircraft flown but the pilot driving it that makes the difference in a real air-to-air combat. In fact as several instructors explained in Rick Llinares & Chuck Lloyd book Adversary: America’s Aggressor Fighter Squadrons, the pilots must understand the weakness of their opponent, since a foe who doesn’t know how to use its MiG-29 or Su-27 it doesn’t represent a real threat, while a disciplined pilot in an older airplane can maximize the strengths of its fighter becoming a deadly adversary.

Adversary: America’s Aggressor Fighter Squadrons is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.

Top image: Bob Lawson

Photo credit: U.S. Navy

Artwork courtesy of AircraftProfilePrints.com


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Dario Leone

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

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