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Dissimilar air combat training (DACT) was introduced as a formal part of US air combat training after disappointing aerial combat exchange rates in theVietnam War.
Traditionally, pilots would undertake air combat training against similar aircraft. For example, pilots of single seatVought F-8 Crusaders would seldom train against the dual seatMcDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs, and almost never againstDouglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft and never as part of a formal syllabus. From 1965 to 1968, US pilots in combat over North Vietnam were pitted againstSoviet-builtVietnam People's Air Force aircraft, including the smaller, more nimble subsonicMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 and the supersonicMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21. Pilots inUS Air Force (USAF)Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs were barely able to exceed parity and pilots in Phantoms and Crusaders were not able to achieve the hugely lopsided win–loss ratio achieved overKorea and inWorld War II. In fact,air combat maneuvering (ACM) was not practiced by all fighter squadrons for a variety of reasons.
TheUSAF had deemphasizedACM because most air combat doctrine since the late 1950s centered on delivering nuclear weapons over Europe or firing missiles atbeyond-visual-range (BVR) at bombers, and not on daylight dogfighting which was thought to be obsolete in the missile age. The primary US fighter used against North Vietnamese MiGs, the F-4 Phantom, did not even have an internal gun. US pilots were finding themselves hard-pressed to prevail over the nimbleVietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) MiGs, which by late 1966 had grown to be a real threat to US aircraft operating over the North.
Even more vexing wererules of engagement (ROE) that did not even permit BVR (Beyond Visual Range) firing of missiles. Radar-guidedAIM-7 Sparrows experienced high failure rates, and the short-rangeAIM-9 Sidewinder was ineffective in many dogfighting maneuvering situations. Phantom training against other Phantoms did not reflect the reality of a target that was smaller, smokeless and more agile. Ever since the success of theAmerican Volunteer GroupFlying Tigers in World War II, aerial tacticians have advocated exploiting differences in aircraft to maximize one's own advantages while minimizing the disadvantages of one's own platform, thus neutralizing the superior maneuverability and climbing speed of, for example, aMitsubishi Zero compared to the rugged, fast-diving and powerfully armedCurtiss P-40 Tomahawk.[1] US pilots found themselves the victims ofVPAF MiG-21s using the Flying Tigers "hit and run" tactics against them.
The US Air Force began to reinstateDACT in 1966 in Air Defense Command. ItsConvair F-106 Delta Dart interceptor squadrons had been tasked with a worldwide mission to send expeditionary forces overseas to conduct air defense operations as necessary. Realizing that they would encounter MiG fighters, not Soviet bombers, in distant hotspots, the Command set about to teach itself dissimilar air combat tactics.Convair F-102 Delta Daggers andLockheed F-104 Starfighters functioned as adversary aircraft for the F-106s, andDACT competency became a required portion of an interceptor pilot's training.[2]
In 1968, theUS Navy took a hard look at its air-to-air problems over North Vietnam and tasked CaptainFrank Ault to come up with recommendations to improve the situation. His report became known as theAult Report.[3] It resulted in the establishment of TOPGUN and incorporation ofDACT into the syllabus. TheUnited States Navy Fighter Weapons School adopted the nimble subsonic A-4 Skyhawk to simulate subsonic Soviet fighters, while theNorthrop F-5E Tiger simulated the supersonic MiG-21 fighter. Both the Skyhawk and Tiger were used in the 1986 filmTop Gun. After aerial combat resumed again in 1972 over North Vietnam the Navy had numerous TOPGUN graduates who were ready to take on theVPAF MiG-17, MiG-19 and MiG-21 pilots that had also been training and were prepared for the resumption of hostilities. The Navy's win/loss exchange ratio soared to over 20:1 before the loss of aMarine Phantom brought it back to 12.5:1 by 1973; an unqualified testament to the value of the TOPGUN approach andDACT. TheUSAF did not improve its exchange ratio at all in the same period and hurriedly began to adoptDACT, even to the point of inviting Navy Crusaders and their pilots to visit a base in Thailand in 1972 to conductDACT with the F-4 Phantoms based there.
In 1970 the Marine Corps and the Navy found out about Air Defense Command'sDACT training program, Operation College Dart, and began to fly practice air-to-air combat missions with F-106 squadrons in the summer of that year.[4]Tactical Air Command finally began to participate in late 1972 when it sent F-4Es to function as adversaries for the F-106s of the 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron.[5] In the summer of 1973, the64th Fighter Weapons Squadron became operational atNellis AFB withT-38s as its "red team" aircraft.[6]
The A-4 Skyhawk has since been replaced by theMcDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk, a navalized version of the BritishBAE Hawk trainer.General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons have been used to simulate later generation Soviet fighters such as theMiG-29. The now-retiredGrumman F-14 Tomcat was also used in various paint schemes to simulateIranian F-14s, as well as the largeSukhoi Su-27. TheUSAF has reportedly also used captured or purchased Soviet fighters forDACT on occasions.[7]
