Why the Navy is Cooler than the Air Force

Posted on February 21, 2017 by walt313 Leave a comment

MiG-28! No one’s been this close before!

That was that was the movie Topgun.  What you probably don’t know are that the boys and girls of VFC-13 are flying them (F-5N and F-5F) at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada. The current Commander is Cdr. Adrian Siebenhaar.  His callsign is NOT “VIPER”.

VFC 13 flies in Topgun livery. How cool is that?

FALLON, Nev. (Feb. 5, 2015) An F-5 Tiger II aircraft attached to the Saints of Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC) 13 taxis after deploying a drag parachute upon landing at Naval Air Station Fallon. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Joseph R. Vincent/Released)

 

Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC-13) Saints is a US Navy fighter squadron that provides adversary training for U.S. Navy air wings at NAS Fallon, Nevada. VFC-13 uses “Bogey” as its main radio callsign.  The Topgun livery is just one of many color schemes that the squadron uses to simulate potential adversaries.

These include:

  • Russian Frontal Aviation
  • Russian Air Defense
  • The usual crew of Arabs.

Mikoyan, a Russian aircraft corporation, formerly the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau seems to have skipped the 28.  Maybe because of the movie.  Here’s a MiG29 of the Ukrainian Air Force.