This is simply the largest fleet of privately owned tactical aircraft in the world. In times of tight budgets this represents a valuable savings for our country. The aircraft are intended to fly government contracts to provide services at a fraction of the cost of flying regular military aircraft such as F-16s, etc. This places the number of employees at 55 more than they have now (which is a number I shouldn’t disclose). I caught the end of the press conference where Draken announced that they were making an additional capital investment of $6.7Million which will create 55 additional jobs. In short, everyone of these guys is good. You will find that other Draken pilots are similarly talented. He was also the highest time F-14 pilot in the Navy and has over 12,000 hours of fighter time. Snort as he is known is probably the world’s most famous, lowest flying, jet airshow pilot in history. He was the Navy’s F-14 demo pilot’ has acquired over 10,000 hours of flying time and has had combat time too. For that matter, Mike Smith has flown the F-14, F-16, and F-104 among others.
The Draken personnel roster reads like a list of the US Military’s Aviation Who’s Who, with Red Flag and Top Gun Instructors as well as graduates and even former Thunderbird Pilots.
Their Aermacchi MB-339s are even plumbed for air to air refueling. Draken has the “buddy packs” to allow for air to air refueling of the Skyhawks and other probe equipped aircraft. These Skyhawks also have the newest J-52 engines. These A-4s have the latest radar that you would find in a F-16, they are also equipped with the latest bus technology that allows them to carry the latest electronics the military has in their weapons systems. They have recently bought nine A-4K Skyhawks from New Zealand. There are 3 A-4Ls currently out at Nellis AFB. They have the latest MIG-21s that have been built. The Draken fleet number about 50 aircraft. I had the opportunity to talk to Mike Smith their Deputy Chief Pilot about their aircraft. As in every shoot I’ve done on a military base or a defense plant there are some very strict limits on what you can take photographs of and what you can talk about. In simple terms, they can perform any mission that military aircraft are designed to do.Īs you walk in the front door, between an A-4 Skyhawk and a MIG-21, you pass through several levels of security before being allowed to enter the facilty. They provide contract air services for military use and are based at the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland Florida. The NTSB is investigating the incident.Draken International is a company on the rise. Multiple federal and local first responders are on scene. The pilot’s identity has not yet been released. The men and women of Team Nellis send our deepest condolences to the teammates, friends and family of our Draken wingman. Draken US is also cooperating with investigating agencies to determine what led to this tragic accident,” said Draken US. We are doing everything in our power to assist them in this time of need, and we are working closely with federal, state and local authorities. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people and families affected by this event. “Draken has received news of a downed aircraft out of Nellis AFB and the tragic loss of one of our pilots.
Please see below statement from our partners at Draken US on today’s aircraft incident: The aircraft was owned, operated and piloted by Draken US, a Florida-based company contracted to provide adversary air support to Nellis Air Force Base. May 24 outside the southern edge of the base. A contracted-aircraft that took off from Nellis Air Force Base crashed at approximately 2:30 p.m.
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