US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter tphuang
- Start date
What plane is this?
Gonna take a stab and say the plane belongs to the Navy's Fighter Composite Squadron 12 (VFC-12), based out of Virginia Beach and report to Reserve Command. The squadron's bread and butter mission is Dissimilar Air Combat Training (basically act as aggressors), as such their Hornets and Rhinos are painted in red air (primarily PLA and Russian) schemes instead of the combat grey color scheme. They supplement training for the schoolhouse in Virginia Beach, but they also do detachment training deployments down south in Key West as well as at Nellis/Fallon in large force exercises. However should the operational tempo on the front lines pick up, the squadron can be seconded/assigned to an active duty Carrier Air Wing.
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TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
okay 1)
3) Still Doesn’t matter as outside of Topgun 2 and Ace Combat video games There aren’t enough SU57 in the world to assemble an operational squadron. Farther they won’t have enough until the start of the next decade. So basically it’s military art for arts sake.
I can't remember where I came across the article, but I do remember reading an interview of a pilot from the USAF's 64th Aggressor Squadron (they fly F-16s) based out in Nellis where the Red Flag large force exercises are held. He says the aggressor aircraft are painted in adversary schemes for two primary reasons:
- It gives blue air pilots the opportunity to learn and overcome the initial "shock" should they ever enter the visual merge with an actual PLA or Russian made fighter
- The psychological factor that "hypes" the aggressor pilot to act/fly like how real life Red Air would. I can't quote him verbatim, but he says being an aggressor isn't just about emulating tactics and strategy of the enemy, but also to recreate the psychological mindset of an actual Flanker or Fulcrum pilot in order to maximize the quality of training for Blue Air forces. Walking across the tarmac and stepping up to a jet painted like it was from the RuAF or PLAAF whilst wearing a sleeve patch and helmet visor that has the infamous Red Star as well as the Sickle and Hammer would certainly create that psychological effect.
There is something otherworldly feeling seeing a US pilot wearing PLAAF patch and flying a US plane with PLAAF scheme. This brings a big smile to my face.I can't remember where I came across the article, but I do remember reading an interview of a pilot from the USAF's 64th Aggressor Squadron (they fly F-16s) based out in Nellis where the Red Flag large force exercises are held. He says the aggressor aircraft are painted in adversary schemes for two primary reasons:
- It gives blue air pilots the opportunity to learn and overcome the initial "shock" should they ever enter the visual merge with an actual PLA or Russian made fighter
- The psychological factor that "hypes" the aggressor pilot to act/fly like how real life Red Air would. I can't quote him verbatim, but he says being an aggressor isn't just about emulating tactics and strategy of the enemy, but also to recreate the psychological mindset of an actual Flanker or Fulcrum pilot in order to maximize the quality of training for Blue Air forces. Walking across the tarmac and stepping up to a jet painted like it was from the RuAF or PLAAF whilst wearing a sleeve patch and helmet visor that has the infamous Red Star as well as the Sickle and Hammer would certainly create that psychological effect.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
this is an older photo but of a modern Russia T50 scheme on an F16 Aggressor from the USAF. It does have red stars but not an actual replica of Russian markings as the Red star has a white boarder Russian roundel is a red star with blue then white boarders. The Navy Adversary paint schemes tend to get more… Detailed.
Sometimes even adding details like painting on false vents. Red star helmets and patches it’s a bit of esprit de corps.
You see similar things with Ground Opfor units. For example US Army opfor tank units wear Black uniforms despite operating in Southern California’s deserts. Why? Russian Tank crews wore black uniforms form the 1930s till early 1980s then Khaki now dark blue. There is a mystique in playing the black hat always has been.
The psychological factor is a very real thing and PLA does this too. There's been stories in the past were Chinese citizens have called up the police to report active invasion by the Soviet Union when they see exercise opfor on the march. Here's a recent example of groud opfor all done up to resemble foreign gear:I can't remember where I came across the article, but I do remember reading an interview of a pilot from the USAF's 64th Aggressor Squadron (they fly F-16s) based out in Nellis where the Red Flag large force exercises are held. He says the aggressor aircraft are painted in adversary schemes for two primary reasons:
- It gives blue air pilots the opportunity to learn and overcome the initial "shock" should they ever enter the visual merge with an actual PLA or Russian made fighter
- The psychological factor that "hypes" the aggressor pilot to act/fly like how real life Red Air would. I can't quote him verbatim, but he says being an aggressor isn't just about emulating tactics and strategy of the enemy, but also to recreate the psychological mindset of an actual Flanker or Fulcrum pilot in order to maximize the quality of training for Blue Air forces. Walking across the tarmac and stepping up to a jet painted like it was from the RuAF or PLAAF whilst wearing a sleeve patch and helmet visor that has the infamous Red Star as well as the Sickle and Hammer would certainly create that psychological effect.
