Top Aces Corp. is pleased to announce the arrival of its first batch of F-16 fighters to the company’s F-16 Center of Excellence in Mesa, Arizona. Under the U.S. Air Force IDIQ contract, Top Aces will begin providing its unmatched adversary training for the USAF, U.S. Navy and DoD in 2021. Top Aces is the first commercial provider in the world to offer the supersonic F-16. The upgraded fleet of F-16s are able to employ an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, helmet-mounted cueing system, tactical datalink and high off boresight missile capability to provide unparalleled adversary air training. The deal is valued at $100 million, 29 surplus F-16 fighter jets to Top Aces Corp for $3-4 million each.
“Our vision is to be the most trusted provider of innovative combat training solutions in a highly specialized industry where experience matters,” said Top Aces Corp. President Russ Quinn, a 26-year USAF veteran and previous Aggressor pilot with over 3,300 F-16 flight hours. “We acquired our fleet of F-16s in order to fulfill our vision of training the next generation of combat leaders here in the U.S. For the past fifteen years, Top Aces has effectively and affordably trained air force leaders throughout the world. We’re excited to join with the USAF and bring both professional and highly credible adversary air capability to the U.S.”.
The Israel Defense Force/Air Force ordered a total of 362 F-16s, from early F-16A/Bs to the latest F-16I. The Israeli F-16 fighters are battle proven and many of them took part in the First Lebanon War in 1982 in air battles against the Syrian Air Force, when they successfully downed 82 Russian-built MiG 21 and MiG 23 Soviet-built aircraft. Even before the war they downed two Sysrian helicopters in Lebanon’s Beka’a Valley, the first-ever aircraft downed anywhere in the world by an F-16. It was also the F-16 that flew the 1981 mission to Iraq and successfully destroyed Saddam Hussein’s Osirak nuclear reactor, in one of the IAF’s longest-range missions.
Top Aces provides the Canadian Air Force, the U.S. Air Force, and the Australian Air Force aircraft that simulate enemy combat threats, also known as the “Red Force”: its aircraft and pilots imitate enemy aircraft and practice interception drills against “Blue Force,” or the military. The company has already announced that it will soon be adding F-16s to its fleet that now includes Skyhawk and Alpha jet aircraft. The use of a private company to facilitate the transaction also cheapens the deal, since employing used planes and private pilots is cheaper than using new combat planes and operational pilots.
