The fate of Sg 7 F-16A/B
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Well for wat i know, 2 F-16A are in the black knights, 1 for the falcon ONE upgrade demonstrator, the rest i not sure liao
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can any1 tell mi? i am interested...
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Saw one a/b at aa2002
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i think those F16A/Bs will all eventually ends up in the black knights...Originally posted by duotiga83:Well for wat i know, 2 F-16A are in the black knights, 1 for the falcon ONE upgrade demonstrator, the rest i not sure liao
Afterall... once the A4s are retired... it wont be economical to just maintain 5 miserable skyhawks for acrobatics,.....
At least in the black knights... those Falcons can be use as trainning as well and if worst come... for combat mission..... -
quote from tripwire
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I think those F16A/Bs will all eventually ends up in the black knights...
Afterall... once the A4s are retired... it wont be economical to just maintain 5 miserable skyhawks for acrobatics,.....
At least in the black knights... those Falcons can be use as trainning as well and if worst come... for combat mission.....===================================================
possible....since a-4 is so old liao.....save money too.....got thinking it as drones for the 7 A/Bs? -
Personally, I think the remaining 7 are best either sold to Thailand, or upgrade them to MLU standard (sharing as many Block50 avionics as possible).
Alternatively, use them purely for dissimilar Air to Air training, or like the Israeli AF, get some the ex-USAF Block 5, 10 A/Bs, and together with the current gang of 7, use them as advanced jet trainer
hee hee -
Yow! From the low subsonic S.211 basic jet trainer to the Mach.2 capable F-16 as advanced jet trainer? Quite a learning curve Joe Black!!Originally posted by Joe Black:Personally, I think the remaining 7 are best either sold to Thailand, or upgrade them to MLU standard (sharing as many Block50 avionics as possible).
Alternatively, use them purely for dissimilar Air to Air training, or like the Israeli AF, get some the ex-USAF Block 5, 10 A/Bs, and together with the current gang of 7, use them as advanced jet trainer hee hee
To clear some things up, the Black Knights are not a full-time team like the Red Arrows or Thunderbirds. They don't have a core of pilots and aircraft who practice acrobatics and perform at shows fullt time. When theres a show coming that RSAF wants Black Knights to be present, it repaints the aircraft + reserves into team colours.
When the shows over, at the next major maintenance for the birds, they'll be reverted back to original camo. The last Black Knights appearance was at NDP 2000. Its almost certain all the A-4s/F-16s will be reverted back by now. -
latest news from JDW....
nxt time RSAF F-16 will deploy to France next year.
It also stated there will be a long term commitment of having a training facilities at France -
Doutiga, the traning agreement in France is for 25 years.Originally posted by duotiga83:latest news from JDW....
nxt time RSAF F-16 will deploy to France next year.
It also stated there will be a long term commitment of having a training facilities at France
Any further info on the F-16 French deployment? Numbers, types(A/B or C/D) etc? Perhaps, if not too much trouble, can type the article here. -
JDW
RSAF inaugurates training base
Singapore inaugurated new facilities at its advanced jet training (AJT) base on 24 July in Cazaux, France, where operations have been conducted since 1998.
The facilities comprise an aircraft maintenance hanger and a squadron building to house a command post. Their development was managed by Singapore's state-run Defense Science and Technology Agency.
"There will be many more generations of [Republic of Singapore air Force, RSAF] pilots who will grow up from this nesting ground and graduate as the future fighter pilots of the RSAF." Chief of the RSAF Maj Gen Lim Kim Choon said at the opening ceremony.
Singapore's AJT base at Cazaux, near Bordeaux, was launched through a January 1998 bilateral training agreement( JDW 18 Feb 199
. Ten A-4Su Super Skyhawk ground-attack aircraft were deployed there in June 1998 under 150 Squadron, and this number rose to 20 by the following May. The base reportedly houses 387 RSAF pilot trainees, instructors, administrative staff and their families.
The RSAF also maintains training facilities in Australia, Indonesia, and the USA, and reportedly, Taiwan. Other co-operation with the French Air Force includes Exercise "Eastern Arc", which was conducted in Singapore in 1998 and 2000 and should see RSAF F-16 deployed to France next year.
Details of the bilateral agreement which saw the RSAF establish its AJT base at Cauzaux have not been released, including its cost and duration. However, construction of new facilities to support operations there suggest a long-term commitment.
Robert Karniol
JDW Asia Pacific Editor, Bangkok -
Thanks Duotiga...I thought it was a long term deployment, but its just an exercise...Originally posted by duotiga83:JDW
RSAF inaugurates training base
Singapore inaugurated new facilities at its advanced jet training (AJT) base on 24 July in Cazaux, France, where operations have been conducted since 1998.
The facilities comprise an aircraft maintenance hanger and a squadron building to house a command post. Their development was managed by Singapore's state-run Defense Science and Technology Agency.
"There will be many more generations of [Republic of Singapore air Force, RSAF] pilots who will grow up from this nesting ground and graduate as the future fighter pilots of the RSAF." Chief of the RSAF Maj Gen Lim Kim Choon said at the opening ceremony.
Singapore's AJT base at Cazaux, near Bordeaux, was launched through a January 1998 bilateral training agreement( JDW 18 Feb 199. Ten A-4Su Super Skyhawk ground-attack aircraft were deployed there in June 1998 under 150 Squadron, and this number rose to 20 by the following May. The base reportedly houses 387 RSAF pilot trainees, instructors, administrative staff and their families.
The RSAF also maintains training facilities in Australia, Indonesia, and the USA, and reportedly, Taiwan. Other co-operation with the French Air Force includes Exercise "Eastern Arc", which was conducted in Singapore in 1998 and 2000 and should see RSAF F-16 deployed to France next year.
Details of the bilateral agreement which saw the RSAF establish its AJT base at Cauzaux have not been released, including its cost and duration. However, construction of new facilities to support operations there suggest a long-term commitment.
Robert Karniol
JDW Asia Pacific Editor, Bangkok -
you are welcome....i 2dae juz photocopy the article at the library....
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Originally posted by Viper52:Yow! From the low subsonic S.211 basic jet trainer to the Mach.2 capable F-16 as advanced jet trainer? Quite a learning curve Joe Black!! , I just was just being cheeky...
Of course then again, the new batches of pilots will head to Canada for advanced jet training after graduating from Pearce, then it is not that unconceivable to have another "more" advance training on the A/B Vipers before they are posted to the C/D Viper sqn. Alternatively, most pilots that are rotated to the Viper sqn can first complete some basic and intermediate training on the A/B Vipers in S'pore before heading to either Luke or Canon. Will this work? However, which means RSAF will have to get a couple more of the B version. -
i dun think sg wans more -16b ....
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Its possible, if only to give the new pilots a taste of the performance of the Viper. If thats the case then it might make sense to get more Bs or even basic Ds without the spine for crew training.Originally posted by Joe Black: , I just was just being cheeky...
Of course then again, the new batches of pilots will head to Canada for advanced jet training after graduating from Pearce, then it is not that unconceivable to have another "more" advance training on the A/B Vipers before they are posted to the C/D Viper sqn. Alternatively, most pilots that are rotated to the Viper sqn can first complete some basic and intermediate training on the A/B Vipers in S'pore before heading to either Luke or Canon. Will this work? However, which means RSAF will have to get a couple more of the B version. -
In AFM March 2002, there is an article on interview with the Singapore Air Force Chief, Brigadier General Lim KIm Choon.
regarding the F-16A/B , he said this"The RSAF intends to phase out its existing F-16A/Bs. However, it continues to have an interest in ST Aero's Falcon ONE cockpit upgrade since the emerging technologies in the upgrade may have possible and relevant applications on RSAF fighter aircraft, such as the F-16C/D. For example, the RSAF is interested in exploring the new systems, such as the mission computer and multi-function colour displays, to evaluate the effects of man-machine interface(MMI) features and requirements, as well as data integration for an advanced cockpit configuration. In addition, the RSAF sees the F-16 as a suitable platform to examine such concepts for future aircraft configurations". -
Consider the large number of suplus stock in USA for A/B model, it is unlikely sg will be able to sell the aircraft away unless we are willing to sell at a very low price which I think we won't.
A/B version are more agile and therefore more suitable for dogfight compare with C/D version. So IMHO, since this aircraft are the most agile one that RSAF have, they can set up a Top gun school(like the one in US) using this plane as enemy (like the boxer coy for the army). They will be flown by the most experience instructor in RSAF against the trainees.
Alternatively they can upgrade the plane to F-16 Ace or Falcon one standard. -
As I have said before in my previous post, the best 2 options, if RSAF is to retain them, are
1. use them as dissimilar air to air combat training - like the USAF's Agressor sqn or the Navy's Topgun.
2. Upgrade them to the MLU standards and sharing as many Block 52 components, eg. APX-113, APG-68(V) radar - or upgrade to APG-66(V), MFDs, Sidesticks, RWR, etc.
BTW, found some really interesting article of USAF dissimilar training with RSAF and RAAF. I guess the level of professionalism found in the RSAF pilots speak for itself
International airmen prove value of dissimilar training
Cubic Defense Systems Demonstrates Air Combat Training System Interoperability At Singapore Training Exercise
Happy reading... enjoy