Summary ATAC owns approximately 90 fighter jets, including around 63 Mirage F1s acquired from France. Draken International operates around 150 jets, offering various training services. Top Aces Inc.
operates over 100 fighter jets, including F-16s and Alpha Jets. Today, private companies operating large fleets of light fighters and retired fourth-generation fighter jets provide much of the Air Force's adversary training . Privatizing the sector is partly due to the need to alleviate pilot shortages (these companies often employ pilots who have previously served in the Air Force and Navy).
Private air forces help train the Air Force during Red Flag exercises and other important exercises (including air forces allied to the US). Here are four private air forces training the US Air Force, Navy, and Marines (another called Discovery Air Canada went insolvent). 1 Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) ATAC's fleet is around 90 fighter jets Aircraft flown: Mirage F1, Mk-58 Hawker Hunter, F-21 Kfir, Aero L-39 Albatros Based: Newport News, Virginia Founded: 1994 ATAC (Airborne Tactical Advantage Company) is a large government contractor owned by Texon that operates Dassault Mirage F1s, Mk-58 Hawker Hunters, F-21 Kfirs, and Aero L-39 Albatros.
According to ATAC , its missions include fighter intercepts, basic flight maneuvers, advanced electric attacks, and offensive and defensive counter-air tactics. As with other private North American air forces, most fighter jets used for training are produced by countries outside the US. Most of ATAC's fleet consists of ex-French Air Force Mirage F1s—a French fighter with a top speed of Mach 2.
2. In 2017, ATAC procured France's entire legacy fleet of 63 F1s (along with over 150 ATAR 6K50 engines). Additionally, ATAC operates ex-Navy F-21 Kfirs.
The Israelis largely reverse-engineered the Kfirs from the French Mirage 5 (although the Kfirs are fitted with a General Electric J79 after burning turbojet). In the 1970s, after France imposed an arms embargo, the Israelis built two types of fighter jets based on the French Rafale V. 2 Draken International Draken's fleet is around 150 jets Aircraft flown: F-16s, Altas Cheetahs, Mirage F1Ms, MiG-21s, Falcon 20s, Aero L-159 ALCAs Based: Lakeland, Florida Founded: 2012 Draken International is another of the largest private fighter jet training contractors.
Like other training companies, Draken offers training services to other air forces in Europe and beyond. Based in Lakeland, Florida, it also operates at the Kinston Regional Jetport in North Carolina and Kelly Airfield in Texas. Draken offers flight training, airborne adversary support, close air support, aerial refueling, and other training services to the Department of Defense.
Additionally, Draken states on its website that it offers " a unique blend of military and civil helicopter training covering all aspects of rotary-wing flying ." In 2021, the War Zone reported Draken was acquiring up to 12 ex-Norwegian F-16s to join its already impressive catalog of aircraft, which included " a dozen ex-South African Atlas Cheetahs and 22 ex-Spanish Air Force Mirage F1Ms, plus assorted other subsonic jets, as well as a deep backstock of MiG-21s ." The fighter is popular for its lightweight structure and excellent maneuverability.
3 Top Aces Inc. Top Aces operates over 100 fighter jets Aircraft flown F-16, Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, F-4 Phantom II, Learjet 35 Based: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Founded: 2000 Top Aces Inc. is based in Montreal, Quebec, and offers training services to the US Air Force and others (including Canada and Germany).
It offers JTAC training, Red Air adversely support, air-to-air gunnery target two, electronic warfare training, and more. Top Aces flies three types of combat jets - the F-16, Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, and the venerable F-4 Phantom II. It also operates Bombardier Learjet 35 business jets in limited numbers.
Over half (around 60) of Top Aces' aircraft are the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer. It also has an impressive fleet of almost 30 F-16s. Top Aces became the first private company in the world to acquire the F-16 Fighting Falcon, which the company states is considered the most agile fighter aircraft of its generation.
Hundreds of F-16s are likely to still be produced, with production to remain open for as long as demand exists. 4 Tactical Air Support, Inc. (Tactical Air) Tactical Air operates 25 F-5s and an unknown number of other aircraft Aircraft flown: A-29 Super Tucanos, Su-27s, F-16Cs, F-5 E/F Tiger IIs, Northrop CF-5Ds, Mitusbishi MU-2bs, others Based: Reno, Nevada Founded: 2005 Tactical Air is another major defense contractor specializing in advanced training for the Air Force and other services.
As with others in its field, Tactical Air employs many qualified and combat-experienced military aviation experts - including many who have previously served in the Air Force and Navy. Its operations first began in 2008 with Sukhoi Su-27s. Tactical Air became the first non-government company (other than Sukhoi itself) to operate the Flanker, and it later added Embraer A-29 Super Tucanos (a turboprop light-attack aircraft) to its fleet.
It also operates F-16Cs. Tactical Air operates a fleet of F-5 E/F Tiger IIs, Northrop CF-5Ds, and Mitsubishi MU-2bs. The Northrop CF-5Ds were built by the Canadian company Canadair (Canadair supplied CF-5Ds to Canada, the Netherlands, and others).
21 F-5 E/Fs were acquired in 2017 from the Royal Jordanian Air Force. In the 1986 movie Top Gun , pilots flying F-14 Tomcats are seen training against and trying to "shoot down" adversary Northrop F-5F jets. Facing a whirlwind of troubles, Russia's days of exporting large numbers of fighter jets could be over.
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