Top Aces Inc. is a

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

-based defence contractor that offers contracted airborne training services to the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

through the Contracted Airborne Training Services (CATS) program. Top Aces operates a fleet of modernized fighter aircraft to provide Red Air threat replication, Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) training, practice munitions drop, air-to-air gunnery training and naval target tow profiles for the Canadian and German militaries. It also provides

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 ...

training and tactics development, and supports advanced radar trials in nationally controlled environments. All Electronic Warfare Officers and EW role equipment are provided by 414 Electronic Warfare Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force as part of the CATS contract. Canadian Armed Forces personnel are authorized to fly on board Top Aces fighter aircraft. Top Aces Alpha Jet line up (3561708083)

History

Top Aces was founded in 2000 by three former

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

CF-18 The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

fighter pilots. In 2005, Top Aces signed a $94-million contract with the

to supply contracted combat support and adversary training. In 2014, the company signed a contract to provide fast jet airborne training services to the

German Armed Forces The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

for five years. In 2017, Top Aces was awarded a long-term Contracted Airborne Training Services contract with the Government of Canada. In March 2017, Top Aces was awarded a contract to provide training support to the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

, with three

Alpha Jet The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform trainer and light attack missions, as ...

aircraft deployed to

RAAF Base Williamtown RAAF Base Williamtown is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base located north of the coastal city of Newcastle ( by road) in the local government area of Port Stephens, in New South Wales, Australia. The base serves as the h ...

for two years. Top Aces, formerly Discovery Air Defence Services (DADS), is no longer a 'Wholly Owned Subsidiary' of the parent company

Discovery Air Discovery Air (DA), founded in 2004, was a specialized aviation company that operated primarily in Canada. History Acquisitions and growth In 2004, Discovery Air was created by David Taylor. It was incorporated by the Pacific & Western Bank of C ...

. It is now owned by Clairvest and other unnamed investors with transactions completed on 22 December 2017. As of July 2018, Top Aces Inc, Top Aces Holdings Inc and Clairvest are subject to ongoing legal proceedings lodged in the

Ontario Superior Court of Justice The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...

(Commercial List).

Fleet

Some Alpha Jets retained the

German Air Force The German Air Force (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War a ...

paint schemes, but others have been repainted in aggressor camouflage colours that mimic certain foreign aircraft. Small low visibility Canadian flags have been added to the vertical tail stabilizers of aircraft contracted to the Royal Canadian Air Force. As of 2022, the fleet consists of 46 aircraft including: In addition the

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...

site lists a

Canadair CL-600 The Bombardier Challenger 600 series is a family of business jets developed by Canadair after a Bill Lear concept, and then produced from 1986 by its new owner, Bombardier Aerospace. At the end of 1975, Canadair began funding the developmen ...

and a Learjet 35 both with cancelled registration certificates.

Further purchases

In November 2020, it was reported that Top Aces was in negotiations with the

Israeli Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defense ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַבִּטָּחוֹן, Misrad HaBitahon, Ministry of Security, acronym: he, משהב"ט) of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Isra ...

for the purchase of 29 early model

F-16 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 successful ...

fighter aircraft with a cost-per unit price of $3–4 million. Four of the planned 29 F-16s arrived in Top Aces F-16 Center of Excellence in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley (Phoenix metropolitan area), East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by ...

in January 2021. Top Aces plans to ship the rest of the orders in 12 batches with two jets arriving every other month.

References

External links

Official site
{{Airlines of Canada Defence companies of Canada 2000 establishments in Quebec Companies based in Montreal Companies established in 2000