Top Aces, the Canadian provider of advanced aggressor training services, displayed one of its A-4 Skyhawk aircraft with a state-of-the-art infrared search and track system (IRST).
It is one of six or seven A-4N Skyhawks the company has deployed at Wittmundhafen Air Base in Germany as part of an adversary air training services (red air) contract it has with the German Air Force (Luftwaffe).
Top Aces has successfully integrated an Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST) capability onto our A-4 Skyhawk platform via our open architecture Advanced Aggressor Mission System (AAMS).#innovationinaviation #IRSTinnovation #A4skyhawkIRSTintegration #topaces pic.twitter.com/Uad1ky3ZWi
— Top Aces (@topaces) February 27, 2024
Top Aces considers the Douglas A-4N Skyhawk a proven and reliable platform for all mission profiles. The A-4N variant was extensively modernized during its service in the Israeli Air Force (IAF). These single- and two-seat Skyhawks were subsequently upgraded by Top Aces with a cockpit upgrade, tatic navigation systems and new ESCAPAC ejection seats for maximum operational flexibility and crew safety.
But the most important upgrade was the integration of the Advanced Aggressor Mission System (AAMS), developed and patented by Top Aces, which allows its aircraft to simulate the highly advanced capabilities of state-of-the-art air-to-air combat adversaries.
[Fotogalería] El Skyhawk no se rinde: el A-4N de Top Aces en el Air Tattoo 2022
The world’s most advanced A-4 Skyhawks
The plug-and-play nature of the AAMS design allowed Top Aces’ venerable A-4 Skyhawk (and later on their F-16s) to add new advanced sensors, typical of 4.5 and 5th generation fighters, such as a powerful Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar; Helmet Mounted Targeting System (HMCS); or the Infrared Search and Tracking System (IRST). It also allows the integration of modern targeting and electronic warfare pods, in order to provide the customer with a spectrum of realistic adversary effects.
The model of the IRST sensor installed on the A-4 in the photo is unknown, but given the small space available in the nose, it should be the PIRATE (Passive Infrared Air Tracking Equipment) that equips Eurofighter fighters or, more likely (due to the color of the optics) the Skyward-G, selected by Saab for the Gripen E.
There is no data on how many of Top Aces’ A-4s will be upgraded to integrate AESA radar and IRST sensors, but this is undoubtedly the most advanced version of this venerable and beloved aircraft in active service. Despite its age, the Skyhawk continues to prove that it is a faithful and robust platform that resists retirement, the product of a simple, elegant and beautifully conceived design.
