Top Aces has won a major 10-year contract worth up to €420 million ($491 million) to deliver advanced operational training services for the German Armed Forces. The long-term agreement strengthens Germany’s air combat readiness by providing high-end adversary air and joint-force training while reducing pressure on frontline combat aircraft.
Under the contract, Top Aces will deploy a fleet of modernized A-4N Skyhawks and Alpha Jets, equipped to replicate contemporary fighter threats. The program includes the integration of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and the company’s Advanced Aggressor Mission System (AAMS), significantly enhancing realism during air combat training missions.
The AAMS avionics suite, built on an open-architecture design, allows the aircraft to carry advanced sensors and mission systems. These capabilities include helmet-mounted cueing, tactical datalinks, electronic attack pods, and simulated weapons employment, enabling the aircraft to realistically emulate hostile forces across complex combat scenarios. This approach minimizes the need for operational fighters to conduct opposing-force roles, improving cost efficiency and aircraft availability.
The A-4N Skyhawk, powered by a Pratt & Whitney J52-P408 turbojet, is widely used for pilot training at all levels, supporting day and night weapons delivery, adversary missions, and multinational exercises. Complementing it, the Alpha Jet, featuring a tandem cockpit and twin SNECMA Larzac engines, conducts adversary air combat, anti-shipping attack training, electronic warfare missions, and air-to-air gunnery target towing for both air force and naval units.
