US company Airborne Tactical Advantage (ATAC) has leased two Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)F-21 Kfirfighters from the manufacturer to support US Air Force and US Navy "high-performance" training programmes.
Virginia-headquartered ATAC specialises in air-to-air electronic attack and adversary training and works with both services.
Since ATAC received the Kfirs, 40 missions have been flown under a USNcontract and 30 for the USAF.A further 15 sorties have been flown to support research and development work.
The Kfir - an Israeli development of the Dassault Mirage IIIwith a General Electric J79 engine - was operated in the late 1980s and early 1990s by the US Navy and Marine Corps as aggressor aircraft designated the F-21.
ATAC received the USAF and USN contracts last year, the former awarded by Air Combat Command for dissimilar and electronic attack training.
The two contracts are potentially worth more than $15 million a year.
"IAI's Kfir aircraft are much more cost-effective to perform these missions than the service's frontline assets, while still delivering similar performance," says ATAC president Jeff Parker. "It also saves life on US military aircraft and enhances the quality of the military's dissimilar training. Each Kfir has zero-time engines and airframes, completely refurbished by IAI."
ATAC is negotiating further service contracts, which could lead to the acquisition of four more Kfirs.
Source: Flight International
