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Força Aerea Brasileira / Brazilian Air Force

IN-FLIGHT REFUELLING, TRAINING EXERCISES AND SPECIAL COLOURS

In-flight refuelling
  The first KC-130H tanker arrived at Campo dos Alfonsos AB (Rio de Janeiro) on 03-10-75
  followed by the second one on 18-12-75.
  They were attached to the 2° Esquadrao/1° Grupo de Transporte de Tropa "Cascavel";
  in-flight refuelling of F-5s contemporaneously was possible and they kept the ability to
  operate as cargoes.
  In-flight refuelling training started immediately, enabling to demonstrate this capability
  for the first time on 21-04-76 at Anapolis AB (Brasilia) and on 22.04.76 at the yearly Dia
  da Caça (Fighter Day) at S Cruz AB. This last event was attended by 28 F-5s, 2 showing this capability, while the others, including some with a reconnaissance nose, showed their fighter-bombing capability.

In 1985 the 2°/1° GTT passed its Lockheed KC-130H to the 1°Esquadrao/1° Grupo de Transporte "Gordo"


  The Grupo received the two tankers in 1985 but used them exclusively on transportation
  duties. This was changed in 2004 when, on 15-03-04  8 F-5E were in flight-refuelled in
  the sky of Florianopolis.






  During the same year (1985) the 2° Esquadrao/2° Grupo de Transporte "Corsario" was
  activated, supplementing with its 3 Boeing KC-137 the KC-130H of the 1°/1°GT and
  enabling much more flexible refuelling conditions.



                F-5E 4826 being refuelled in flight during exercise Cruzex, August 2004.

Armament: AIM-9B Sidewinder were requested at the time of original purchase, apart from standard 2x20mm cannons each with 250 rounds, conventional 500 lbs/1000 lbs bombs, napalm bombs, air-to-ground rockers, but refused from the USA government, which finally agreed to sell them in 1980. They could be seen till 2007 at F-5Es wingtips but were non operational and were only use for structural stabilization. The new, extremely manoevrable, locally produced Mectron MAA-1 Piranha missile is in operation since 2004.

Intensive training allowed a first cross-country exercise to be held starting on 29-06-77, when 4 F-5E from 1°/14° GAv took-off from Canoas AB and landed, after a 3 hr 45 min  flight, at Fortaleza. They had flown 3'500 kms non-stop, at a heighth of 10'000 meters, being in-flight refuelled over Belo Horizonte by an KC-130H; contemporaneously the 1° Grup de Caça also transferred some Tigers to Fortaleza.

The end of 1977, between 12 and 17th December, saw the transfer to Fortaleza of the two Tiger equipped Grupos de Aviaçao to participate to the 36th Tournament of Fighter Aviation, together with the Mirage equipped ALA, the Embraer AT-26 equipped 1°/4° GrAv, 3° Esq. de Instruçao Aerea and the Neiva AT-28 equipped CATRE.

Interception of a British Vulcan
The Falkland/Malvinas war gave an unexpected opportunity to test the air defence organisation and the Northrop F-5E.
On June 3rd, 1982 Avro Vulcan Mk B.2 (serial XM597) returning from a strike mission armed with two live Westinghouse AGM-45 Shrike anti-radar missiles had an emergency situation; it had been hit by the Argentine Port Stanley anti-aicraft defence at its fuel system. The crew decided to land at Rio de Janeiro-Galeao civil airport; two AIM-9B Sidewinder armed Northrop F-5E were scrambled from Santa Cruz AB to intercept the, till that moment, unknown aircraft. This was intercepted when it was already on Brazilian territory.


F-5E 4837 1°GAvCa Santa Cruz 22-04-85 armed with 2 napalm canisters followed by another
armed with 4 canisters. Note last two of serial written in white on tail.
                                                                                                   Photo: The Northrop F-5 Enthusiast

                
                 F-5E 4828 1°/14°GAv Santa Cruz 22-04-85 armed with bombs. Note white last two of serial on
                 tail and Squadron badge on air inlet.                                    Photo: The Northrop F-5 Enthusiast

A former GE Training Center Compuscene III simulator with visual display dome was bought at the beginning of the 1990s to lower training costs, keep airframes flying hours and maintenance costs low.

EXERCISES
Combined Brazilian/USA exercise took place for the first time at Natal during October 1995; it saw the participation of the USAF/Puerto Rico ANG F-16A equipped 198th FS, mixing with 5 F-5Es, 1 F-5B of the 1° GAV and 4 F-5Es, 1F-5F of the 1°/14° GAv.

This excercise was followed between March 9th and 16th, 1996 by "Tiger III", the deployment of 5 F-16Cs,
1 F-16D of the US Reserve 93th Fighter Squadron to Santa Maria AB, together with two KC-135 of the 434th
Air Refueling Wing.
They engaged against Embraer AMX-1s and Northrop F-5Es and served to develop A-1 and F-5 tactics to avoid
F-16 missile strikes.

  During "Tiger III" an USAF KC-135Rs refueled for the first time a Brazilian
  F-5Es, using a drogue funnel fitted to the boom as normal USAF air-
  refueling booms are not compatible with the F-5 probe. The refuelling
  established that the two Air Forces could deploy together.

 


 Photo: USAF


More recent excercises were:
"Operaçao Cruzeiro do Sul": from 29-04-02 till 11-05-02 at Canoas AB; 5 Northrop F-5E of the 1°/1°GAvCa and the
locally based Northrop F-5E/F of the 1°/14° GAv participated to the excercise, together with aircrafts from
Argentina (6 Mirage 5), France (4 Mirage 2000-5), and Chile (4 Pantera). Operaçao Cruzeiro do Sul was later
renamed "Cruzex" and developed into the most important combined South American/European excercise.

"Salitre 2004": the 1°/1°GAvCa, based at Iquique (Chile), with 5 F-5Es in the air-to-air and air-to-ground missions participated from 26-09-04 till 10-10-04, together with Chilean AF Dassault Elkans, Dassault Panteras, Cessna A-37B attack/fighters, transport aircrafts and helicopters; Argentina sent Dassault Mirage IIEA and Daggers, while 6 USAF Gneral Dynamics F-16Cs were also present.

  "Operaçao Pampa 2005": extensive
  combined Army, Navy, Air Force
  exercise in the states of Rio Grande
  do Sul and Paranà between the 10th
  and the 20th October 2005 saw the
  participation of the locally (Canoas)
  based 1°/14° GAvCa in addition to
  Mirage IIID/E, EMB-326, Embraer
  A-1/TA-1, KC-130H, KC-137.
  Also participating (for the first time
  to an exercise) were 1 EMB R-99A
  1 R-99B, both from the 2°/6° GAv,
  for Airborne Early Warning & Control
  (AEW) duties.

  Photo: Brazilian AF




 "Cruzex III" took place from 21-08-06 till 01-09-06; 6 F-5EM from 1°/14° GAv, based at
 Campo Grande for air defence and 6 F-5EM, based at Anapolis for air-defence/strike, were
 present in addition to several Brazilian strike-fighters, AEW, transport and rescue aircrafts
 and helicopters.
 Also present were Argentinian 2 McDonnel/Douglas A-4AR, 2 FMA IA.58 Pucarà; France with
 8 Dassault Mirage2000C/N, 1 Boeing E-3F; Venezuela with 3 General Dynamics F-16A,
 3 Dassault Mirage 50, 2 Canadair CF-5A, 1 Boeing KC-707; Chile 6 Cessna A-37B; Uruguay
 3 Cessna A-37C, 3 FMA IA.58 Pucarà.
 This first international F-5EM international excercise was of particular importance due to the
 participation of the advanced French Mirage 2000 fighters as well as of the Embraer R-99A
and French Boeing E-3F Early Warning aircrafts. The combination of the two Embraer aircrafts
and of Derby air-to-air missiles resulted in at least one victorious duel against the French combination, "shooting
down", according to unofficial infomation, two Mirage 2000C and 1 Mirage 2000N.

During the annual air-to-ground excercises at Natal, the 1°GAv takes care for the air defence of Southern Brazil from Canoas AB whe locally based 1°/14° GAv is dilocated top Natal AB.

Starting from 1977 Brazilian F-5Es, based at Salvador AB, have participated to "Unitas"; mainly a naval exercise with South American (Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Chile) and USA navies participate. Tigers have been active attacking ships after they had been localized by Grumman S-2 Trackers, later by Embraer P-95; in the meantime Embraer A-1s have taken over this role.

Norhrop F-5E aerobatic capabilities have enthusiasted Brazilian crowds during many air shows that have been held during years all over the country as part of the public relations activities of the Força Aerea Brasileira.
Among them the yearly "Dia da Caça" (April 22nd) to celebrate the participation of the Brazilian af to the World War 2. All fighter units, including those equipped with Embraer EMB-326/AT-26, participate to the event.


The  aircrafts gave a fire-power
demonstration with all their
armament (cannons, bombs,
rockets, napalm) until 1999.
After that year only overflights
and an armament show inside
the "Zeppelin" hangar have been
organised due to financial
constraints.

Overview of Santa Cruz AB on
22-04-04. Note the enormous
size of the "Zeppelin" hangar.
                Photo: Brazilian AF


Retirement of the Anapolis AB based Mirage IIIE on 31-12-05 gave, from 31-12-05, alternatively to the 1° GAv and 1°/14° GAv the tastk to defend, with 2 F-5E, the Northern part of the country until the arrival of  Mirage 2000s bought in France. The first 2 Tigers (serials 4820, 4827 from 1°GAv) arrived at Natal AB on 14-12-05 during the Mirage retirement ceremony. The new Mirages arrived at Anapolis AB on 27-09-07, releasing shortly after the F-5s from their Norther Air Defence duties.
Little is known of the exchange tour of Brazilian pilots with their Chilean colleagues. One pilot of 1° GAv and 1°/14° GAv completed their tour with the Antofagasta based Grupo de Aviacion n°7 at the end of 2007.

The Força Aerea Brasileira participated for the first time to Red Flag (Red-Flag 08 3) in the year 2008 with 6 Embraer F-5EM of the 1°/14° GAv, taking place at Nellis AFB between July 21st and August 1st; the aircrafts had mainly escort duties for fighter-bombers (Turkish F-16s, Swedish Gripens), bombers (Boeing B-52s) and AEW aircrafts operating against AIM-120 AMRAAM armed McDonnell F-15C and General Dynamics F-16CG operating in an BVR scenario. The aircrafts performed with great success, even though not all integrated systems were operational as the software had not yet obtained the definitive certification and the Data Link abd the Helmet Mounted Display were not yet installed.

A less glamorous, but important exercise for interoperative use of the forces, took place from 10-12- till 12-12-08 between the F-5EM of the 1° GAvCa and the Douglas AF-1 (Douglas A-4KU) of the Brazilian Navy VF-1 Squadron. All aircrafts were based at Santa Cruz AB, acting alternatively as interceptors or targets.

 Five F-5EM of the 1°/14° GAv participated from Canoas AB to the exercise "Operaçao Laçador"
 between 16th and 27th November 2009, the biggest combined Army/Navy, Air Force exercise,
 together with Mirage 2000, Embraer A-1s/RA-1,  EMB-326, AT-29, AEW, transport and SAR
 aircrafts.

AIRCRAFT COLOURS

All aircrafts of the first batch were painted in a South East Asia scheme, apart from some (inclusive serial 4834) which were experimentally painted in a light gray colourt while serving wth the 1°/14° GAv in 1988; aircrafts of the second batch kept their original colours until due for heavy duty maintenance at PAMA S-Paulo, where they were painted in a light gray colour. No special colours were allowed.
A change in directives allowed the painting in 2004 of serial 4841 in a scheme to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 1° Esquadrao/1° Grupo da Aviaçao de Caça and, later, of some other aircrafts.
  F-5E 4841, in
  front of the
  Zeppelin hangar,
  painted in  "60
  años Senta a
  Pua" colours with
  Python and
  Piranha missiles.
  April 2004.




















Photo: R. Vaz Carneiro             URL: http://saorbats.com.ar/fondosPantalla/fondosPantalla.htm

Additional special paintings were F-5E 4846 shown below and F-5E 4858 shown at the entrance of the site.

                 
                    F-5E 4846 special "Tiger 30 years" colours on 01-09-05 at Salvador amidst tropical vegetation.
                                                                                                      Photo: Juliano Damasio - AIRFLN
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