United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program - History

History

The United States Navy (USN) Fighter Weapons School was established on March 3, 1969 at NAS Miramar, California at the direction of the then Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Thomas Hinman Moorer.

The school was the end result of a study, published in May 1968, by USN Captain Frank Ault who, at the direction of the CNO, researched the failings of the US air to air missiles used in aerial combat in the skies over North Vietnam. Operation Rolling Thunder, which lasted from 2 March 1965 to 1 November 1968, resulted in nearly 1,000 US aircraft losses in approximately one million sorties. Operation Rolling Thunder became the Rorschach test for both the USN and the US Air Force, and from which they drew nearly opposite conclusions. The USAF concluded that its air losses were primarily due to unobserved MiG attacks from the rear, and was therefore a technology problem. The Air Force focused on these "technical problems" with upgrades to their F-4 Phantom II fleet, such as installing an internal 20mm Vulcan cannon (replacing the gun pods carried under the aircraft's belly by Air Force Phantom units, such as the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing), developing improved airborne radar systems, and working to solve the targeting problems of the AIM-9 and AIM-7 air-to-air missiles.

The Navy, in what became known as the "Ault Report", came to the conclusion that inadequate air-crew training in air combat maneuvering (ACM) skills was the problem. The conclusions of the "Ault Report" were not news to the F-8 Crusader community, who had been lobbying for an ACM training program ever since the commencement of Rolling Thunder in 1965.

The Ault Report recommended establishment of an "Advanced Fighter Weapons School" to revive and disseminate community fighter expertise throughout the fleet. The school was initially formed using many F-8 pilots as instructors, and placed under the control of F-4 Phantom-equipped Replacement Air Group (RAG) unit VF-121 "Pacemakers." At the time it received relatively scant funding and resources, and built its syllabus from scratch, while borrowing aircraft from its parent unit as well as other units to support the practical aspects of their operations.

Its objective was to develop, refine and teach aerial dogfight tactics and techniques to selected fleet air crews, using the concept of Dissimilar Air Combat Training. DACT uses stand-in aircraft to realistically replicate expected threat aircraft and presently is widely used in air arms the world over. At that time the predominant threat aircraft were the Russian-built transonic MiG-17 'Fresco' and the supersonic MiG-21 'Fishbed'.

TOPGUN initially operated the A-4 Skyhawk and borrowed USAF T-38 Talons to simulate the flying characteristics of the MiG-17 and MiG-21, respectively. The school also made use of Marine-crewed A-6 Intruders and USAF F-106 aircraft when available. Later, the T-38 was replaced by the F-5E and F-5F Tiger II.

One British writer claimed that the early school was influenced by a group of a dozen flying instructors from the British Fleet Air Arm aboard HMS Ark Royal, who were graduates of the Royal Navy's intense Air Warfare Instructors School in Lossiemouth, Scotland. However, an earlier incarnation of TOPGUN, the U.S. Navy Fleet Air Gunnery Units, or FAGU, had provided air combat training for Naval Aviators from the early 1950s until 1960, when a doctrinal shift, brought on by advances in missile, radar and fire control technology, contributed to the belief that the era of the classic dogfight was over, leading to their disestablishment. The pilots who were part of the initial cadre of instructors at TOPGUN had experience as students from FAGU.

Air crews selected to attend the TOPGUN course were chosen from front-line units. Upon graduating, these crews would return to their parent fleet units to relay what they had learned to their fellow squadron mates—in essence becoming instructors themselves.

During the halt in the bombing campaign against North Vietnam (in force from 1968 until the early 1970s), TOPGUN established itself as a center of excellence in fighter doctrine, tactics and training. By the time aerial activity over the North resumed, most Navy squadrons had a TOPGUN graduate. According to the USN, the results were dramatic. The Navy kill-to-loss ratio against the North Vietnamese Air Force (NVAF) MiGs soared from 3.7:1 (1965–1967) to 13:1 (post 1970), while the Air Force, which had not implemented a similar training program, actually had its kill ratio worsen for a time after the resumption of bombing, according to Benjamin Lambeth's The Transformation of American Airpower.

The success of the U.S. Navy fighter crews vindicated the fledging DACT school's existence and led to TOPGUN becoming a separate, fully funded command in itself, with its own permanently assigned aviation, staffing, and infrastructural assets. Successful TOPGUN graduates who scored air-to-air kills over North Vietnam and returned to instruct included "Mugs" McKeown and Jack Ensch. It must be said that the first U.S. aces of the Vietnam War, Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Willie Driscoll did not receive any official TOPGUN training. However during the course of their training with VF-121 they did get the opportunity to fly against TOPGUN instructors whilst being taught how to operate the F-4 Phantom at NAS Miramar.

It was not until after the war in Vietnam ended that the Air Force initiated a robust DACT program with dedicated aggressor squadrons. The Air Force also initiated a program to replicate an aircrew's first ten combat missions known as Red Flag, and the United States Air Force Weapons School also increased emphasis on DACT.

The 1970s and 1980s brought the introduction of the F-14 Tomcat and the F/A-18 Hornet as the primary Fleet fighter aircraft flown by students, while TOPGUN instructors retained their A-4s and F-5s, but also added the F-16 Fighting Falcon to better simulate the threat presented by the Soviet Union's new 4th generation MiG-29 'Fulcrum' and Su-27 'Flanker' fighters. However, hard flying of the specially built F-16N aircraft led to discovery of cracks in the airframe which led to the subsequent retirement of this asset. However, in 2002, the Navy began to receive 14 F-16A and B models from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) that were originally intended for Pakistan before being embargoed. These aircraft (which are not designated F-16N/TF-16N) are operated by the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) / (TOPGUN) for adversary training and like their F-16N predecessors are painted in exotic schemes.

Largely due to the end of the cold war in the 1990s, the TOPGUN syllabus was modified to include more emphasis on the air-to-ground strike mission as a result of the expanding multi-mission taskings of the F-14 and F/A-18. In addition, TOPGUN retired their A-4s and F-5s in favor of F-16s and F/A-18s in the Aggressor Squadron. In 1996, the transfer of NAS Miramar to the Marine Corps was coupled with the incorporation of TOPGUN into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) at NAS Fallon, Nevada. TOPGUN instructors currently fly the F/A-18A/B/C Hornet and the F-16A/B Falcon (former Pakistani aircraft never delivered due to embargo) that are assigned to NSAWC.