The Fighting Falcon's key features include a frameless bubble canopy for
better visibility, side-mounted control stick to ease control while
maneuvering, an ejection seat reclined 30 degrees from vertical to reduce
the effect of g-forces on the pilot, and the first use of a relaxed static
stability/fly-by-wire flight control system that helps to make it an agile
aircraft.
The F-16 has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and 11 locations for mounting
weapons and other mission equipment. The F-16's official name is "Fighting
Falcon", but "Viper" is commonly used by its pilots and crews, due to a
perceived resemblance to a viper snake as well as the Colonial Viper
starfighter on Battlestar Galactica which aired at the time the F-16
entered service.
The F-16 fighter aircraft belonging to the American private military
company, Top Aces, has capabilities equivalent to 5th generation fighter
aircraft. The F-16 Advanced Aggressor Fighter, or (F-16 AAF), is upgraded
with the new and most precise Advanced Aggressor Mission System
(AAMS).
After being upgraded, this F-16 aircraft on January 19, 2022 conducted its
first flight test with an integrated system to assess and test its
capabilities. This F-16 aircraft will be used as a real simulator for
pilots who are learning to fly 5th generation fighter aircraft, such as
the F-22 and F-35 fighters.
The system includes the use of the AESA air-to-air radar, which is
generally an integral part of American aircraft avionics and is the best
airborne radar available today.
The system has also developed special markings and symbols in the pilot's
helmet viewfinder, integrated tactical communication system, infrared
search and tracking system, weapon system simulation, electronic warfare,
passive radio frequency detection, and various aircraft control
functions.
The system is easy to deploy to a variety of aircraft, as it is flexible
and has an open software infrastructure.
Top Aces will use upgraded F-16 aircraft with AAMS equipment for pilot
training. M7 Aerospace, a company owned by Elbit Systems of America, which
is involved in the AAMS integration, also confirmed the news with a tweet
on the social network.
“PARTNERS FOR SUCCESS | M7 Aerospace, an Elbit America company, partnered
with TopAces to install the Advanced Aggressor Mission System (AAMS) on
their prototype F-16A aircraft. M7 is an experienced MRO aircraft company
based in San Antonio, Texas,” reports Elbit Systems America.
In addition to the AAF F-16 fighter, Top Aces has also certified another
fighter to use the AAMS system, namely the A-4N Skyhawk. Top Aces hope
their modern system will be adopted by the United States Air Force
(US).
Top Aces said several air forces are currently using their training
systems, such as the German Air Force and several other European Air
Forces, but did not say which country. Top Aces provides advanced combat
training (red air) and combined terminal attack controller (JTAC) to the
world's leading air forces.
