F-16 A/B |
Militarymedia.net - The progress of the F-16 seems endless, including the legacy variant of this legendary and battle proven fighter jet, which is still being searched for and converted to other missions. After the successful F-16 A was converted into the QF-16 Zombie Viper (drone target), it was the Israeli Air Force's turn for the F-16 A / B to be purchased by Canadian air combat training provider Top Aces.
Top Aces is in talks with the Israeli Ministry of Defense for the purchase of 29 legacy F-16 A / B stock units, which incidentally were procured by Israel in the early 80s. Although still functioning, the 29 F-16 A / B units were only served as reserves.
For this purpose, it is reported that Israel has set the price of the F-16 A / B quite cheap, in the range of US $ 3 to US $ 4 million per unit. By Top Aces, the ex-Israeli F-16 fleet will later be used as a training facility in an aerial duel simulation, to be exact, the F-16 will play the role as an aggressor or a challenger fighter.
F-16 A B Israel |
The Montreal-based company currently operates a fleet of 40 Dornier Alpha Jet, A-4 Skyhawk and Bombardier Learjet 35As. To offer its services, Top Aces recruits ex-combat pilots or veteran combat pilots from the German Air Force, Canadian Air Force and the United States Air Force. Eighty percent of these were graduates of the Top Gun Combat Aviation School. Currently, Top Aces has served air combat training services for the German Air Force and the Canadian Air Force.
Coming back to the Israeli F-16 A / B to be acquired by Top Aces, it is rumored to be a generation with Israeli F-16s conducting air raid operations on the Iraqi Nuclear facility at Osiraq in 1981.
In total Israel operates 362 F-16s, ranging from the F-16 A / B to the last generation F-16I. 50 of these planes were excess stock from the US Air Force, which was given to Israel as compensation for restraint during the 1991 Gulf War, during which Israel was the target of a Scud missile attack by Iraq.