Company type | Private |
---|---|
Founded | 2012 |
Founder | Jared Isaacman |
Headquarters | Lakeland, Florida, US |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Nic Anderson (CEO) |
Website | https://www.draken.aero/ |
Draken International, LLC is an American provider of tactical fighter aircraft for contract air services including military and defense industry customers. The firm is based at the Lakeland Linder International Airport in Lakeland, Florida and also has operating bases at Kinston Regional Jetport and Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas.
Draken offers airborne adversary support (Red Air), Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC), Close Air Support (CAS), flight training, threat simulation, electronic warfare support, aerial refueling, research, and testing services to the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. defense contractors and aerospace firms, provided by a fleet of former military aircraft.
Draken was established by Jared Isaacman at Lakeland Linder International Airport in January 2012. [1] In 2015, the company was awarded contracts to provide training for the Air National Guard (ANG) at Volk Field in Wisconsin, for the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Joint Tactical Air Control at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, and at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, as well as providing “adversary support” at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. It also won a contract with the French Navy. [2]
In March 2018, Draken announced a $6.7 million expansion of its headquarters and repair infrastructure at Lakeland Linder International Airport. [3]
On 1 June 2018, the Department of Defense announced that the U.S. Air Force (USAF) had awarded Draken a $280 million contract to continue providing training services for the 57th Adversary Tactics Group at Nellis AFB, as well as Luke AFB in Arizona and Hill AFB in Utah. [4]
In November 2018, the ANG awarded Draken a five-year contract to provide red air services to support key combat readiness training exercises throughout the United States. [5]
Draken provides JTAC training and CAS for the USMC at MCAS Cherry Point and MCAS Yuma, Arizona and United States Navy's (USN) Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center at NAS Fallon, Nevada. [6]
Draken was one of seven companies awarded an IDIQ contract to support the USAF's Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support (CAF CAS) program in October 2019. [7]
On May 24, 2021, a Mirage F1 operating in the adversarial role crashed near Nellis AFB. The pilot was killed. [8] [9] Military officials and the National Transportation Safety Board launched investigations. [10]
In 2021, Draken announced agreements to purchase up to 24 F-16 Fighting Falcons from the Netherlands and Norway. [11] [12] However, as of 2024 the sales have been cancelled and the aircraft redirected to Ukraine and Romania. [13]
With approximately 150 jets, the company operates the largest fleet of privately owned former military tactical jet aircraft in the world. The company's fleet as of 2021 [update] included: [14]
In 2020, to supplement the fleet of former Spanish Air Force aircraft, Draken imported the first of up to 25 former Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) Mirage F1CJ, DJ and EJ aircraft. [23] [24]
The company's pilots are a combination of USAF, U.S. Navy and USMC tactical jet pilots who are retired from those services or who continue to serve part-time in the reserve components of those services, including the Air National Guard. Their backgrounds include USAF Weapons School graduates and instructors, U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) graduates and instructors, USAF aggressor pilots, USN/USMC adversary pilots and Strike Fighter Tactics Instructors (SFTI), USAF air liaison officers, former USAF Thunderbirds demonstration pilots and USAF/USN/USMC Forward Air Controller - Airborne (FAC-A) instructors, with some of the more senior pilots having previously served as commanders (USAF) and commanding officers (USN/USMC) of operational fighter, strike fighter, and Marine fighter attack squadrons, groups and wings while on active duty or in the Reserve Components. [25]
Draken International and Secapem, a French manufacturer of towed aerial gunnery banner, have created a joint venture called SDTS utilising a number of A-4N Skyhawk aircraft. [26]
In September 2020 Draken International purchased Cobham Aviation Services based in Bournemouth, UK, and renamed it Draken Europe. [21] Draken Europe fly a range of aircraft, with their largest fleet being heavily modified Dassault Falcon 20s, fitted with a range of equipment to provide Operational Readiness Training. [27]
Nellis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in "Military Operations Area (MOA) airspace", associated with the nearby Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). The base also has the Combined Air and Space Operations Center-Nellis.
The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the Mirage III family.
The Atlas Cheetah is a South African fighter aircraft designed and produced by the aviation company Atlas Aircraft Corporation. It was primarily designed and developed to be operated by the South African Air Force (SAAF).
The Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir is an Israeli all-weather multirole combat aircraft based on the French Dassault Mirage 5, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-built version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine.
A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation.
An aggressor squadron or adversary squadron is a squadron that is trained to act as an opposing force in military wargames. Aggressor squadrons use enemy tactics, techniques, and procedures to give a realistic simulation of air combat. Since it is impractical to use actual enemy aircraft and equipment, surrogate aircraft are used to emulate potential adversaries.
The Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is one of the nine Major Commands (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force. It was established 1 July 1993, with the realignment of Air Training Command and Air University.
Exercise Red Flag is a two-week advanced aerial combat training exercise held several times a year by the United States Air Force (USAF). It aims to offer realistic air-combat training for military pilots and other flight crew members from the United States and allied countries.
Vance Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in southern Enid, Oklahoma, about 65 mi (105 km) north northwest of Oklahoma City. The base is named after local World War II hero and Medal of Honor recipient, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Robert Vance Jr.
Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) is the term used in the United States Armed Forces and some other military forces for a qualified service member who directs the action of military aircraft engaged in close air support and other offensive air operations from a forward position. The term that is used in most other countries, as well as previously in the U.S. and in the relevant NATO standard, is Forward Air Controller. The term became effective in the U.S. on September 3, 2003 with the publishing of Joint Publication (JP) 3-09.3 Close Air Support.
Tonopah Test Range Airport, at the Tonopah Test Range is 27 NM southeast of Tonopah, Nevada, and 140 mi (230 km) northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a major airfield with a 12,000 ft × 150 ft runway, instrument approach facilities, and nighttime illumination. The facility has over fifty hangars and an extensive support infrastructure.
The 65th Aggressor Squadron is a United States Air Force unit currently operating the F-35A Lightning II. It is assigned to the 57th Operations Group at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
A Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), nicknamed "Wizzo", is an air flight officer directly involved in all air operations and weapon systems of a military aircraft.
Exercise Maple Flag is an annual air combat exercise carried out from CFB Cold Lake over the co-located Cold Lake Air Weapons Range (CLAWR). It is among the largest such exercises in the world, lasting four weeks, split into two two-week "phases". The first Maple Flag was carried out in 1978, initially twice a year, but moved to an annual format in 1987.
The USAF Weapons School is a unit of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, assigned to the 57th Wing and Space Delta 1. It is located at Nellis AFB, Nevada.
The 57th Wing is an operational unit of the United States Air Force (USAF) Warfare Center, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
The United States Air Force Warfare Center (USAFWC) at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, reports directly to Air Combat Command. The center was founded on September 1, 1966, as the U.S. Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center. It was renamed the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center in 2005.
A squadron in an air force, or naval or army aviation service, is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force.
Tactical Air Support, Inc. is an American defense contractor headquartered in Reno, Nevada at Reno-Stead Airport. Some of its employees are former fighter weapons school and operational commanders, instructors, and/or test pilots that specialize in advanced tactical air support. Tactical Air provides consulting and commercial air services to U.S. and allied forces in a manner similar to the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) and the USAF Weapons School. TacAir Global, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tactical Air Support, Inc., focuses on international training. In 2013, Tactical Air began providing F-5 refresher training to the Botswana Defence Force.
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