Top Aces has completed an infrared search and track (IRST) integration activity on a Lockheed Martin F-16 used to deliver adversary air (ADAIR) training services to the US Air Force (USAF).
To deliver a passive detection capability against airborne threats, the single-engined fighter has been equipped with a Leonardo SkyWard long-wave infrared sensor, housed inside a Northrop Grumman-supplied OpenPod carried beneath the aircraft’s centreline.
“The system offers a wide scan volume for early target detection and engagement beyond visual range,” the private operator says. “This latest addition allows the Top Aces pilot to select and slave one advanced sensor to another, optimising their ability to challenge fifth-generation tactics across various phases of air-to-air combat training engagements.”
Top Aces developed the fit for its F-16 Advanced Aggressor Fighter (AAF) platform working in partnership with Northrop and Leonardo, plus Coherent Technical Services and Seger Aviation.
“Fitted with Top Aces’ open architecture Advanced Aggressor Mission System, our F-16 AAF will continue to rapidly integrate a range of high-tech sensors to meet evolving customer requirements,” says company president Russ Quinn.
“The air force needs a highly capable adversary to train against,” he notes. “We firmly believe our F-16 AAF platform, combined with our highly experienced personnel, offer the most realistic and cost-effective solution to prepare the next generation of combat leaders.”
The only private ADAIR provider to operate the F-16, Top Aces has previously given its AAF-standard aircraft advanced features including an active electronically scanned array radar, helmet-mounted cueing system and Link-16 datalink.
Images released by the company show the podded IRST system being carried by an aircraft with the registration N854TA. Cirium fleets data shows this to be an A-model, Pratt & Whitney F100-engined fighter which originally entered service with the Israeli air force in 1980.
Cirium details Top Aces as having 10 F-16s in current operational use, including one two-seat B-model example, with another 14 – 11 As and three Bs – in storage pending a return to service.
The operator also has previously fielded a nose-mounted IRST capability with part of its fleet of Douglas A-4 Skyhawks.
