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Top Gun
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From the Navy’s point of view, the air-to-air war over North Vietnam was conveniently broken down into two phases. They are referred to as: “Before Top Gun, and After Top Gun”. I say conveniently because the Top Gun program was initiated shortly after the bombing halt of 1968, and by the time, the air-to-air war was resumed in 1972 the program had had a chance to graduate several classes and filter the accumulated ACM (Air Combat Manoeuvring) knowledge into the fleet.
The US-Navy Flight Weapons School, popularly known as “TOP GUN”, was conceived as a result of the Ault Report. In 1968, the Naval Air Systems Command, under the aegis of Captain Frank WAult, did an extensive analysis of aerial combat in Southeast Asia. The resultant report recognised the need for improvements in several areas. Recommended were: improved missile reliability, more comprehensive training in ACM for all fleet fighter units, and the development of a hard core of specialists in this area. The report urged the formation of a graduate-level school to train fleet fighter crews in ACM and weapons deployment.
Top Gun began life as “The US Navy Post Graduate Course in Fighter Weapons Tactics and Doctrine”. It was soon nicknamed Top Gun, a name which has stuck despite the fact that it trained F-4 crews, who did not employ guns. It was originally a department of VF-121, the Pacific Fleet replacement training squadron for F-4 aircrews. The first class commenced in March, 1969. The original syllabus called for one week of air-to-ground weapons deployment, and three weeks of air-to-air work. It soon became apparent that the air-to-air portion of the course was far too complex to cover adequately in three weeks, and the air-to ground portion was subsequently dropped. The four weeks of training include 75 classroom hours of instruction and 25 training flights per crew. The academics include aerial combat manoeuvring procedures, air-to-air gunnery, intelligence briefs on enemy aircraft and weapons, F-4 weapons systems, air-to-air missile operation and procedures, electronics warfare, and fighter performance studies.
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