DID - Supporting the USA’s F-5 Aggressor Fighters, 2008 – 2014

In the 1980s movie Top Gun, the revolutionary “MiG-28s” operated by the enemy air force were actually painted F-5E Tiger IIs, derived from a family of fighters whose design concept dates back to the mid 1950s. The F-5 family of aircraft were produced in large numbers, as they were an extremely popular export item. Many are still operated by countries around the world, and the US Air Force used them for many years as “aggressor” aircraft in Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT). They remain excellent for simulating similarly small, low profile adversaries like the MiG-21s and MiG-19s that gave American pilots such trouble over Vietnam. Or the IAF MiG-21s that caused trouble in the 2004 – 2005 COPE India exercises, for that matter.

“F-5Ns” are still routinely flown by American Navy and Marines adversary squadrons in training exercises, where they simulate small, low-cross-section (and hence hard to spot) enemies. Keeping them in service requires maintenance contracts – and some timely help from the Swiss also came in handy. This article covers a multi-year maintenance & support contract from 2008 – 2014, as a representative time period.

Contracts and Key Developments

Unless otherwise noted, The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD manages the contracts.

March 23/21: Collision Two F-5Es had a mid-air collision off Taiwan’s Pingtung County at around 15:06 local time on March 22. The crash on Monday was the third such incident in the past half-year, at a time when the island’s armed forces are having to intercept Chinese aircraft on an almost daily basis. One of the pilots was found unconscious in the sea but could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Rescuers were still searching for the remaining pilot.

July 31/19: Logistics Support PAE Aviation and Technical Services won a $50.4 million contract modification for organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot maintenance and logistics support for the F-5F and F-5N aircraft. The F-5 is a supersonic light fighter. The F-5N is a single seat, twin-engine, tactical fighter and attack aircraft providing simulated air-to-air combat training. The F-5F is a dual-seat version, twin-engine, tactical fighter commonly used for training and adversary combat tactics. The aircraft serves in an aggressor-training role with simulation capability of current threat aircraft in fighter combat mode. The F-5F Tiger II and F-5N Freedom Fighter are used by the Navy and Marine Corps for adversary training purposes. They serve as proxies for third-generation Soviet-era fighters due to their small size, maneuverability and relatively primitive sensor gear compared to modern aircraft like the F/A-18. PAE will perform work in Nevada, Arizona, and Florida. Estimated completion date is in July next year.

July 29/14: Sikorsky Aerospace Maintenance in Stratford, CT receives a $7.9 million firm-fixed-price contract modificatio, exercising an option for organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot-level maintenance for aircraft operated by adversary squadrons. All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 US Navy O&M budgets.

Work will be performed at the NAS Key West, FL (40%); NAS Fallon, NV (30%); and Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, AZ (30%), and is expected to be complete in October 2014 (N00019-09-C-0024).

April 29/14: Sikorsky Aerospace Maintenance in Stratford, CT receives a $7.9 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract, exercising an option for adversary squadron organizational maintenance, selected intermediate maintenance, and limited depot-level maintenance. Their platforms include the F-5, but also include F-16s.

All funds are committed immediately, using FY 2014 maintenance budgets. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, FL (40%); NAS Fallon, NV (30%); and the Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, AZ (30%), and is expected to be complete in December 2014.

A new contract was started in April 2014 under similar terms as previous F-5 awards. DID will not be covering the new contract, and coverage of this representative period ends as the FY 2009 multi-year contract does (N00019-09-C-0024).

March 20/13: Sikorsky Aerospace Maintenance in Stratford, CT receives an $8.2 million firm-fixed-price contract modification, exercising an option for organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot-level maintenance for USN adversary squadrons.

Work will be performed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, FL (40%); NAS Fallon, NV (30%); and Marine Corp Air Station Yuma, AZ (30%), and is expected to be completed in June 2013. $10 million in FY 2013 Operation and Maintenance, Navy Reserve contract funds are committed obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/13 (N00019-09-C-0024).

Dec 28/12: Sikorsky Aerospace Maintenance in Stratford, CT receives a $23.3 million firm-fixed-price contract option for organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot-level maintenance for 44 F-5 aircraft operated by US Navy adversary squadrons. $10.4 million is committed immediately, and all contract funds in the will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/13.

Work will be performed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, FL (40%); NAS Fallon, NV (30%); and the Marine Corp Air Station, Yuma, AZ (30%), until December 2013 (N00019-09-C-0024).

Dec 21/11: Sikorsky Aerospace Maintenance in Stratford, CT receives a $23.2 million firm-fixed-price contract modification, to exercise an option for organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot-level maintenance for 44 F-5 aircraft operated by US Navy adversary squadrons.

Work will be performed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, FL (40%); NAS Fallon, NV (30%); and the Marine Corp Air Station, Yuma, AZ (30%), until December 2012. All contract funds in the will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/12 (N00019-09-C-0024).

Feb 7/11: Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in St. Augustine, FL receives a $16.7 million contract modification to provide continued life cycle support services for a total of 11 F-5 series aircraft in support of the Commander, Naval Reserve Forces Command, Norfolk, VA.

Life cycle support services include all levels of aircraft maintenance including depot level maintenance; emergency repair; aircraft modification; engineering; logistics; program management support; technical advisor services and associated materials and services as may be required. Work will be performed in St. Augustine, FL, and work is expected to be complete on Jan 31/12. The Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Norfolk’s Contracting Department in Philadelphia, PA manages this contract (N00189-09-D-Z052).

Despite the implied FY 2009 date in that contract number, this is its 1st DefenseLINK announcement.

Dec 22/10: Sikorsky Aerospace Maintenance in Stratford, CT receives a $22.7 million firm-fixed-price contract modification, exercising an option for organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot-level maintenance for 44 F-5 aircraft operated by USN/USMC adversary squadrons.

Work will be performed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, FL (40%); NAS Fallon, NV (30%); and the Marine Corp Air Station, Yuma, AZ (30%), and is expected to be complete in December 2011. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 20/11 (N00019-09-C-0024).

July 20/10: Competition makes a move. Northrop Grumman Corporation signs an agreement adding Astronautics Corporation of America in Milwaukee, WI to its F-5 Worldwide Sustainment Team, alongside Northrop Grumman Technical Services and RUAG Aviation in Emmen, Switzerland. Under the terms of the agreements, the team will market F-5 aftermarket support, modifications and upgrade programs to countries flying the aircraft. Northrop Grumman.

Jan 11/10: Sikorsky Aerospace Maintenance in Stratford, CT receives a $34.7 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-09-C-0024), exercising an option for organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot-level maintenance for 44 F-5 aircraft operated by American adversary squadrons.

Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, FL (40%); NAS Fallon, NV (30%); and the Marine Corp Air Station, Yuma, AZ (30%), and is expected to be complete in December 2010. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/10.

May-June 2009: US Defense Acquisition University’s Defense AT&L Magazine runs “Sharpening the Spear Through Innovative Acquisition: The F-5 Adversary Program” [PDF]. It describes the US Navy and Marine Corps’ purchase of 44 Swiss F-5s from 2003-2005, in a “reverse Foreign Military Sale.”

Switzerland had originally purchased 70 F-5E/Fs from the USA in the late 1980s, but sharp cuts to the Swiss Air Force had left them with surplus planes. The Swiss aircraft had far lower flight-hours per airframe (average flight hours: 2,500) than American aggressor training squadron F-5Es (average flight hours: 7,000). They also added a number of useful improvements: an improved inertial navigation system, new radar warning receiver capability and chaff /flare capability, added anti-skid capability, improved airborne radar capability, and standardized cockpit configuration.

With Northrop Grumman’s close cooperation, the entire program was accomplished within a $43 million budget, avoiding a situation in which 73% of the Navy and Marines’ F-5 aggressor aircraft were expected to drop out of service by FY 2007 due to spiraling maintenance costs. The ex-Swiss planes can be identified by their new designation: F-5N.

Dec 17/08: Sikorsky Support Services, Inc. in Stratford, CT received a $6.6 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract for organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot-level maintenance for 44 F-5 aircraft operated by the Adversary Squadrons based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, FL; NAS, Fallon, NV; and Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, AZ.

Work will be performed in Key West, FL (40%); Fallon, NV (30%); and Yuma, AZ (30%), and is expected to be complete in February 2009. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (N00019-01-C-0109).

Oct 22/08: NAVAIR’s Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office is upgrading the Navy’s F-5N Adversary aircraft with new avionics, and expects to save an estimated $20 million in future costs. Jay Bolles, Adversary Integrated Product Team lead:

“The cost to repair the older INS and buying a new, more capable system was about the same so the decision was made to go with the newer, more reliable system… The funding for the entire $6.1 million upgrade program was split between the U.S. Navy Reserve, which fly the F-5Ns, and the Support and Commercial Derivative Aircraft program office.”

Northrop Grumman’s new LN-260 inertial navigation system and new display bring a multi-function touch screen capability, a radar display, INS functions, embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) and a new fiber optic gyro. NAVAIR release.

Aug 25/08: Sikorsky Support Services, Inc. in Stratford, CT received a $10.5 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-01-C-0109) that began in 2001, in return for another year of organizational, selected intermediate, and limited depot-level maintenance for 44 F-5 aircraft operated by the USA’s adversary squadrons based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, FL (40%); NAS Fallon, NV (30%); and Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, AZ (30%).

Maintenance may be marginally easier this year, thanks to a smart NAVAIR program involving the F-5’s internal batteries. Work is expected to be completed in December 2008, and contract funds in the amount of $3 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year on Sept 30/08.

Additional Readings

• US Navy – Fact File: F-5N/F Adversary aircraft
• US Navy NAVAIR – F-5 Tiger II
• Global Security – F-5 Freedom Fighter/ Tiger
• CNIC Naval Air Station Fallon – Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC)
• StrategyPage (Feb 3/11) – Chinese Blue-Army Aggressor Squadrons. Interesting development in the PLAAF.
• San Diego Magazine (October 2009) – Top Gun: 40 Years of Higher Learning
• US Defense Acquisition University’s Defense AT&L Magazine (May/June 2009) – Sharpening the Spear Through Innovative Acquisition: The F-5 Adversary Program [PDF].
• U-T San Diego (April 9/09) – TOPGUN dogfight school had bare-bones beginning

View the full article