Draken International, LLC is an American provider of tactical fighter aircraft for contract air services including military and defense industry customers. The firm is based at the

Lakeland Linder International Airport Lakeland Linder International Airport is a public airport five miles southwest of Lakeland, in Polk County, Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a nati ...

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...

and also has an operating base at

Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. Draken offers airborne adversary support (Red Air), Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC), Close Air Support (CAS), flight training, threat simulation,

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

support, aerial refueling, research, and testing services to the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

, U.S. defense contractors and aerospace firms, provided by a fleet of former military aircraft. The company CEO is Joe Ford.

History

Draken was established by Jared Isaacman at

in January 2012. In 2015, the company was awarded contracts to provide training for the Air National Guard (ANG) at

Volk Field Volk Field Air National Guard Base is a military airport located near the village of Camp Douglas, in Juneau County, Wisconsin, United States., effective 2007-07-05 It is also known as the Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC). T ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, for the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Joint Tactical Air Control at

MCAS Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point or MCAS Cherry Point (*) is a United States Marine Corps airfield located in Havelock, North Carolina, United States, in the eastern part of the state. It was built in 1941, and was commissioned in 1942 and ...

, North Carolina, and at Twentynine Palms, California, as well as providing “adversary support” at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. It also won a contract with the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. In March 2018, Draken announced a $6.7 million expansion of its headquarters and repair infrastructure at

. On 1 June 2018, the Department of Defense announced that the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

(USAF) had awarded Draken a $280 million contract to continue providing training services for the 57th Adversary Tactics Group at Nellis AFB in Nevada, as well as

Luke AFB Luke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States., effective 20 December 2007 It is located west of the central business district of Glendale, and west of Phoenix. Luke AFB is a major trainin ...

in Arizona and

Hill AFB Hill Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force (USAF) base located in northern Utah, just south of the city of Ogden, and bordering the Cities of Layton, Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy, and Sunset with its largest border immediately adjacent t ...

in Utah. In November 2018, the ANG awarded Draken a five-year contract to provide red air services to support key combat readiness training exercises throughout the United States. Draken provides JTAC training and CAS for the USMC at MCAS Cherry Point and MCAS Yuma and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

's (USN)

Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center The Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC, pronounced NAW-DIK) was formerly known as the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC, pronounced "EN-SOCK") at Naval Air Station Fallon located in the city of Fallon in western Neva ...

NAS Fallon Naval Air Station Fallon or NAS Fallon is the United States Navy's premier air-to-air and air-to-ground training facility. It is located southeast of the city of Fallon, east of Reno in western Nevada. Since 1996, it has been home to the U.S. Na ...

. Draken was one of seven companies awarded an

IDIQ In U.S. Federal government contracting, IDIQ is an abbreviation of the term indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity. This is a type of contract that provides for an indefinite quantity of supplies or services during a fixed period of time. The legal ...

contract to support the USAF's Combat Air Force Contracted Air Support (CAF CAS) program in October 2019. On May 24, 2021, a

Mirage F1 The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the popular Mirage III family. During the 1960s, Dassault commenced development of what would ...

operating in the adversarial role crashed near Nellis AFB. The pilot was killed. Military officials and the National Transportation Safety Board launched investigations. On 2 December 2021, the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...

announced that twelve

F-16A Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successf ...

fighter aircraft had been sold to Draken International.

Fleet

With approximately 150 jets, the company operates the largest fleet of privately owned former military tactical jet aircraft in the world. The company's fleet included: * 13

A-4 Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed ...

s *23 L-159E ALCA *21 Dassault Mirage F1 *25

MiG-21bis The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nick ...

*12 Atlas Cheetah *24 F-16 Fighting Falcons *15

Dassault Falcon 20 The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French business jet developed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. The first business jet developed by the firm, it became the first of a family of business jets to be produced under the same name; of these, both t ...

were acquired by the takeover of Cobham Aviation as Draken Europe in 2020 In 2020, to supplement the fleet of former Spanish Air Force aircraft, Draken imported the first of up to 25 former Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) Mirage F1CJ, DJ and EJ aircraft.

Aircrew

The company's pilots are a combination of

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

tactical jet pilots who are retired from those services or who continue to serve part-time in the reserve components of those services, including the Air National Guard. Their backgrounds include

USAF Weapons School The USAF Weapons School is a unit of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, assigned to the 57th Wing and Space Delta 1. It is located at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Mission The mission of the USAF Weapons School is to teach gradu ...

graduates and instructors, U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) graduates and instructors, USAF aggressor pilots, USN/USMC adversary pilots and Strike Fighter Tactics Instructors (SFTI), USAF air liaison officers, former

USAF Thunderbirds The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron ("Thunderbirds") is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force The Thunderbirds are assigned to the 57th Wing, and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Created in 1953, the USAF Th ...

demonstration pilots and USAF/USN/USMC

Forward Air Controller Forward air control is the provision of guidance to close air support (CAS) aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller (FAC). ...

- Airborne (FAC-A) instructors, with some of the more senior pilots having previously served as commanders (USAF) and commanding officers (USN/USMC) of operational fighter, strike fighter, and Marine fighter attack squadrons, groups and wings while on active duty or in the Reserve Components.

Activities outside the U.S.

Draken International and Secapem, a French manufacturer of towed aerial gunnery banner, have created a joint venture called SDTS utilising a number of A-4N Skyhawk aircraft. In September 2020 Draken International purchased

Cobham Aviation Services Cobham Aviation Services may refer to several Australian aviation companies formerly owned by Cobham: * National Jet Express (formerly Cobham Aviation Services Australia - Regional Services), a charter airline and aviation services provider that wa ...

based in Bournemouth, UK, and renamed it Draken Europe. Draken Europe fly a range of aircraft, with their largest fleet being heavily modified

s, fitted with a range of equipment to provide Operational Readiness Training.

References

External links