Draken announced late last year it had acquired 12 South African Atlas Cheetah supersonic fighters, in addition to its fleet of nine Aermacchi MB-339s, 27 MiG-21s, 21 L-159s, 22 F1s, 13 A-4s, five L-39s, and one T-33. Under the Nellis contract, Draken will provide, operate, and maintain the aircraft for “air-to-air tracking, targeting, and ADAIR operations.” The sorties are to provide “combat air training services that include tactical profiles, to include beyond-visual-range engagements, operational test support, dissimilar air combat maneuvers, offensive and defensive within-visual-range maneuvers, multi-ship tactics, merges, and flight.” The award was a competitive acquisition, with two offers having been received. The Air Force announced last year it planned to open up the contract to competition, and industry has been aggressively building up its fleet in anticipation of this contract and the much-larger CAF ADAIR contract, which has not yet been awarded but is expected to total some 37,000 hours of Red Air at multiple bases. Draken has been the sole commercial provider of Red Air to the US Air Force since it received its first contract in 2015 to augment USAF’s existing F-16 aggressors. The Air Force has awarded Draken International, of Lakeland, Fla., a $280 million contract to continue flying adversary air at Nellis AFB, Nev., through December 2023, according to a DOD contract announcement. Draken To Continue Flying ADAIR at Nellis
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