#Draken jet plus#

It was February 2021 at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.The U.S. We also corrected an earlier version, which incorrectly stated when the last contract adversary air crash took place. on May 26 with additional information from the Air Force. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the family, friends, and our partners at Draken during this time.”Įditor’s Note: This story was updated at 2:06 p.m. “However, any mishap of this magnitude always has an impact on the flying community. “The CAF/CAS contract remains in the base year execution phase, with requirement adaptations ongoing as anticipated,” an ACC spokesperson said. In addition to Draken, ATAC, and Tactical Air Support, other companies include Top Aces Corp., Air USA, Blue Air Training, and Coastal Defense.

The service has authorized a total of seven companies to bid on contracts, and Nellis is expected to be the next big award.

#Draken jet plus#

The awards are part of a potential $6.4 billion Combat Air Force/Contracted Air Support indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract that could include up to 40,000 hours of adversary air at 12 fighters bases, plus 10,000 hours of close air support at nine bases. Tactical Air Support also received a contract. The pilot safely ejected and was rescued by a civilian sailboat.ĭraken and ATAC were among three companies awarded contracts in July 2020 worth up to $433.6 million to provide 5,418 annual sorties of adversary air at five bases.

In 2018, the Hawaii Air National Guard also temporarily suspended Exercise Sentry Aloha after an ATAC Hawker Hunter crashed in the waters a few miles off the coast. Two Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) Mirage F1 pilots were treated for non-life threatening injuries at the time. The last time a contractor-owned and operated adversary aircraft crashed while supporting USAF operations was in February at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The company owns 22 F1s, 12 supersonic Cheetahs, nine Aermacchi MB-339s, 27 MiG-21s, 21 L-159s, 13 A-4s, five L-39s, and one T-33, a company official previously told Air Force Magazine. Air Force Magazine is embedded with USAF forces during the exercise. They flew on May 24, but did not fly the day after the crash. The company also supports exercises at locations such as Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico Edwards Air Force Base, California Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina MCAS Miramar, California and Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Marylandĭraken aircraft currently are assigned to provide Red Air support for Air Mobility Command’s Mobility Guardian 2021 exercise in Michigan. In addition, the company is under contract to provide adversary air in support of the F-15E FTU at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, and the F-16 FTU at Kelly Field, Texas. Draken contractors fly from 18 to 24 adversary air sorties a day at the base, “supporting the USAF Weapons School, operational test missions, Red Flag exercises, Formal Training Unit syllabus rides from Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, as well as combat readiness training out of Hill Air Force Base, Utah,” according to a 2018 release. In June 2018, Draken won a $280 million contract, which runs through December 2023, to continue flying at Nellis. The first F1 adversary air flight was just over a year ago, when F1s challenged USAF F-15E Strike Eagles on March 18, 2020. The company recently started introducing French-built Mirage F1s, acquired from the Spanish air force, and Atlas Cheetahs, acquired from South Africa. A company spokesperson said no additional information is available at this time.ĭraken originally started flying so-called “Red Air” missions at Nellis in 2015, using L-159 Honey Badgers and A-4 Skyhawks.

An Air Combat Command spokesperson told Air Force Magazine, “there’s no immediate operational impacts that we’re aware of,” and referred any addition questions to Draken. It’s not clear whether Draken’s fleet is now grounded. Draken US is also cooperating with investigating agencies to determine what led to this tragic accident.” We are doing everything in our power to assist them in this time of need, and we are working closely with federal, state, and local authorities. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people and families affected by this event.

“Draken has received news of a downed aircraft out of Nellis AFB and the tragic loss of one of our pilots,” the company said in a statement. No one else was on board at the time of the crash, according to a release. The pilot’s name has not yet been released. The Mirage was owned and operated by Florida-based Draken International, which has flown adversarial air against pilots training at Nellis since 2015. Officials are still investigating the cause of the fatal Mirage F1 crash on the south side of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, around 2:30 p.m.