AC3 and Project Wingman already have you covered (Wingman more so since you are under a merc company the entire game). Also, the main characters in Ace Combat Zero were also mercenaries, though not part of any specific company.
From Draken International's Wikipedia entry. They have the following. 13 A-4K Skyhawks 23 L-159E ALCA 21 Dassault Mirage F1 25 MiG-21bis 12 Atlas Cheetah 24 F-16 Fighting Falcons 15 Dassault Falcon 20 They probably make more money as a training force.
Theres at least 5 Dassult Falcon 20's at my local base We also have some of the L-159E Alcas at my local Base. see them everyday think there training Ukrainian pilots.
Surprised they dont have harriers. Would be dope for a small carrier pmc force. If they got that kind of money to maintain all those aircraft and pay all the folks running and flying etc i wonder how theyd handle ukraine if they were paid to help. Or can they help without crossing some international bs law.
@timothyvalvo900 I didn't get to go to the bar, as I'm a lowly scrub. ;) We walked through a bay with lots of parts and did a photo shoot with my company in front of some of their fighter jets.
I work for Draken as a Licenced Engineer, I work on the Bournemouth flight line supporting our Falcon 20 fleet. I did my apprenticeship with the company and have since stayed. It’s a privilege to see our stuff presented by Mr Whistler himself, it’s a job I’m proud to do and I love sharing it (within allowable reason) 👍
There's also Top Aces, out of Montreal Canada. They were the first civilian operator of the F-16, and currently have a fleet of 29 of them, more than even Draken. They also operate A-4 Skyhawks and Alpha Jet trainers. They've also been around quite a bit longer than Draken Like Draken, they're primarily contracted to provide aggressor training to militaries, notably the USAF, USMC, USN, RCAF, RAAF, and Luftwaffe. However, their most notable contract in recent history was to train Ukrainian F-16 pilots.
@thej3389 it may not of had the most ground breaking controls or features but the story was pretty good and I played it through multiple times. A definite solid entry in air combat games.
Marcus Licinius Crassus, a Roman politician and considered one of the wealthiest individuals in ancient Rome, famously said that "no one is rich unless he can support an army from his own income," essentially meaning you're not truly rich unless you can afford to maintain a Roman legion..or AirForce
The 12 year old inside me can't help but get excited at the prospect of an evil mercenary air force owned by evil corpos, and flown by a rag-tag cadre of sociopathic, PTSD-ridden veteran pilots. It would be straight from a comic book or video game.
And luckily the Kahu Project (named after a NZ Hawk) upgraded the avionics and radar to the same as a contemporary F-16, so it isn't just a Vietnam War era aircraft any more! NZ Govt sold them for cents on the dollar, so Draken nabbed an excellent aircraft for a bargain basement price.
IMO the major factors limiting Draken's ability to become an actual PMC are a lack of access to munitions and logistics. While combat aircraft are scary and all, the thing that actually makes them dangerous are the weapons they carry. Thus far, Draken don't seem to have the access or means of obtaining missiles (bearing in mind different aircraft systems are only compatible with certain missile systems). Likewise, it would be difficult to ship their aircraft around. Meanwhile, Draken don't seem to have any tanker aircraft or the ability of midair refeuelling.
Draken International have a base at Durham Tees Valley UK which is my local airport. See them all the time doing training across the local area with RAF and various other planes 👌
I was saying, because Draken is a mercenary force, it's probable that they've got some RAF lads in there along with the former US Air Force fliers? Especially since the UK isn't doing right by ANY of their armed forces, so why not just go private?
@@Kaltagstar96 Search UA-cam for the "Aircrew Interviews" series and you'll see an interview with an ex-RAF fast jet pilot who works for them at their Teesside base.
I live close to Draken's Bournemouth International Airport UK operating hub utilizing Dassault Falcon 20 aircraft used in support of Royal Navy ops alond the south coast of the UK. Often to be seen flying over the Cornish skies.
"what does the world look like if countries could rent a private airforce and use it as a highest bidder see's fit" Project Wingman got that covered with the sky going ORANGE
To be fair, it wasn't the mercenaries doing that. Feds had a fit that they were losing a territory and decided that if they couldn't have it, they'd break it.
The Draken pilots and ground crew sits up in their chairs, suddenly a lot more attentive. -Wait, w-what? We could DO all th..... *pilots exchanging glances then slowly starts grinning*
Yeah, they should offer to train Ukrainian pilots to fly airshows over western Ukraine 🤣 The entire f16 thing was a propaganda stunt, they won't go anywhere near the frontlines
@@antimatter4733 You are the only Propaganda stunt here. They were never to go to the front immediately as it was announced when they first started training that it would be territorial defence at first then as training and acquisitions proceeded and facilities built for maitenance there role would progress.
Why? Zelenskyy is just one more example of the CIA overthrowing democratically elected governments. Now their propaganda machine has got you all thinking he's some sort of hero. No, he's just a queer who puts on a hilarious "tough guy" voice when making public appearances. Look at his prior work to see where the "queer" bit comes from.
@@runrau9275 damn, American planes are pretty shit, Russia has been operating on the frontlines the entire time, running hundreds of sorties against American air defenses for years now. Russian jets better than American jets it seems 🤣
There's a documentary on Netflix about Jared Issacman taking himself and 3 others, a geoscientist and science communicatorol who is also a pilot, a Physician Assistant that lost a leg to cancer and was a former patient at St. Judes Hospital and an aerospace data scientist into space with the first all civilian crew. Last week he became the first civilian to do a space walk on the Polaris Dawn.
Excellent episode Simon! You did finally touch on it at the end with the phrase "...in the wrong hands." There does seem to be the tendency to assume from the outset that all PMCs are inherently malevolent and motivated only by profit and have no moral compass. There are a good many of those, to be sure. However, that is not the case across the board. There are those who choose their contracts very carefully and only accept those that fit a certain moral and ethical model. As one member of a PMC once said "Yes, we do get paid for the work we do. But when you are actively improving or preserving the lives of others and make the world a little bit of a better place, when nations and governments cannot or will not for any number of reasons, you are able to sleep well at night." (I paraphrase, of course, as I do not have the precise quote at hand.) So, Draken has extraordinary capability and could potentially be a game-changer in many parts of the world. This does not mean that they would be an aggressive combatant or destabilizing force. Given that they have 24 F-16s in their inventory and would be piloted by very competent airmen, given their typical role, what good could they do in Ukraine? In either a training role, or in active combat, they could potentially give Ukraine some air superiority, or at least parity. Certainly not air supremacy. I think few would fault them for such an endeavor. Certainly Ukraine would greatly appreciate such assistance.
I honestly have to imagine that if Draken were interested in acting like a flying Wagner Group doing bombing runs on foreign countries for their client, they would've surely just gone ahead and done it by now?
they are probably serving primarily as practice for the Us airforce and US navy airforces+ to keep retired fighter pilots sharp for any future conflict
it would be interesting to see an analysis of an alliance of mercenary groups like this and blackwater could defeat the venezuelan government like many people say
We used contractors (not these guys) to simulate adversaries or cruise missiles or drug runners. All ex military, very professional. Part of the capabilities we lost downsizing our air force. No doubt some very well connected ex Generals are part of the mix. Reminds me when we outsourced pilot training or aircraft maintenance for some fleets. Good opportunities for business if you are connected.
@@comlitbeta7532 What? There are no live rounds used. These are just unarmed aircraft flying a certain profile to provide training for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
@@comlitbeta7532 Probably some ambiguity because the commenter you replied to is Canadian and the company that actually is the world leader in private Red Air by a large margin, Top Aces, is also Canadian.
draken intl might have the aircraft, but for combat, they need weapons without weapons all that fleet + expertise is just staying grounded and the real business opportunity is in integrating whatever weapons are in store into whatever airframe is at hand coz if you can crack that, barring the top few airforces, everyone will be beating their doors down to award contracts
@@sethb3090 Also -- this video didn't talk about munitions -- because if they had -- the story wouldn't have sounded as good. Yes, Draken and any other private air force has no power because they don't have access to ordnance. Plus missiles and bombs are expensive -- really outside of the realm of a private air force -- even if you could buy ordnance -- which you can't.
They don't even have the aircraft. The MiG-21s are all scrap and the F-16s don't exist. But Draken and other Red Air contractors are strictly for training and non-combat missions like testing and evaluation. They will never be used in combat.
Israel just pulled off one of the biggest and boldest clandestine operations ever! Simon, I hope you guys are going to be covering this big time! We want to know as many details as possible.
The world's most advanced private air force is actually Air USA, which has a fleet of 46 F/A-18C Super Hornets, mostly to fly adversary roles roles in fighter training missions. Had a company like Draken or AirUSA existed when I left the Navy, I would have put my application in, especially because it would have meant still flying, but no more sea duty.
Those were As and Bs (legacy Hornets), and that deal fell through at the end of 2023 before they ever took delivery of any of them. They aren't even remotely comparable to Draken. They have a few L-39s, a few Hawks, and a few F-5s.
Something worth mentioning is there was brief talks within Ireland of contracting Draken to act as interceptors enforcing their airspace instead of being dependent upon the UK, this was however ultimately decided against, deciding the RAF were a better option than a private company
Just from a common sense perspective, not being a mil. expert, this video seems a bit nonsensical. Airplanes seem way more complicated than a foot-soldier mercenary that can be deployed with a gun and a can of tuna. Fuel, maintenance, transportation to deployment destination, integration into radar, satellite and communication systems, sophisticated weaponry not easy to purchase ... I am not sure you can do anything by just having some combat airplanes - where are the carriers, refuelling airplanes, where are they going to get high grade aircraft weaponry if the US is not going to be directly involved and so on?
Top Aces also has a considerable air fleet. 60 Alpha Jets 22 A4's 29 F-16's I'm going up north to repair their A4's who fly target designation for the german air forces every couple of months.
Have known about this company and Top Aces (and others) for years now. As cool as "private air force" sounds, they are pretty much a training school with occasional non-combat assignments.
Very interesting video! Although I think the airforce comparison with actual countries, while interesting and gets the point across, kinda makes it look like if you don't have a superior airforce you are literally helpless. Anti air systems can make a difference and some military objectives cannot really be accomplished without land forces. Still super impressive to think a PMC could easily take on the air force of many countries, but still worth taking those factors into account.
I live right next to Durham tees valley airport where Draken Europe has a bunch of Aero L-159Es and Dassault Falcon DA20. They fly regularly and low on their way out to the North Sea for EW and aggressor training!
You missed one major point that would make any sort of PMC Air Force outside of Russia or maybe China not work. When Draken buys these aircraft from countries, there is almost always a part of the contract that specifies how the aircraft can be used. Basically a "don't kill people or fight foreign countries with these" rule. And while the contract could theoretically be disregarded, it would likely have the effect of closing the company off from new aircraft and necessary equipment replacement purchases. So a truly private PMC Air Force could probably only be used in war once and then it would pretty quickly fall apart. The only way for a PMC Air Force to work is if it is, like Wagner, a state sanctioned tool of gray zone warfare.
Ok the one question that I have is: How would Drakken get into a foreign theater ? Fighters tend to have a relatively short range. That is why America maintanes a fleet of aircraft carriers and more importantly KC-130 aerial refueling aircraft.
As far as I understand it, these guys don't have any live weapons. At most they would have real missiles with inert warheads. This would tend to put them at a significant disadvantage when fighting literally anyone with real missiles, or even live cannon rounds.
Calling it right now: a group clearly inspired by Draken International is going to have a major role in a future Ace Combat game.
Already happened with AC3 being a Cyberpunk CORPWAR
Imagine rusiaa hire them (with shell copmany
There is a game called Project Wingman that has you play as an air mercenary.
AC3 and Project Wingman already have you covered (Wingman more so since you are under a merc company the entire game).
Also, the main characters in Ace Combat Zero were also mercenaries, though not part of any specific company.
More like Draken was inspired by AC:Zero
From Draken International's Wikipedia entry. They have the following.
13 A-4K Skyhawks
23 L-159E ALCA
21 Dassault Mirage F1
25 MiG-21bis
12 Atlas Cheetah
24 F-16 Fighting Falcons
15 Dassault Falcon 20
They probably make more money as a training force.
holy shit! who gave them the f-16
Theres at least 5 Dassult Falcon 20's at my local base We also have some of the L-159E Alcas at my local Base. see them everyday think there training Ukrainian pilots.
@@minecraftwater854490% sure some of them are old Isreali birds
Next on the list:
Some form of aircraft carrier if not converting a civilian ship into a carrier.
Surprised they dont have harriers. Would be dope for a small carrier pmc force. If they got that kind of money to maintain all those aircraft and pay all the folks running and flying etc i wonder how theyd handle ukraine if they were paid to help. Or can they help without crossing some international bs law.
The fact he has his own mig-29 makes me think of him as some sort of Ace Combat boss battle 💀
...and now Jared Isaacman is the first private citizen to do a Spacewalk in history.
@@Seastallion he’s 100 percent gonna become like mihaly
@@theanglosaxon6002dont tempt it. Someone will come say his full name.
@@madkoala2130 Mihaly Dumitru Margareta Corneliu Leopold Blanca Karol Aeon Ignatius Raphael Maria Niketas A. Shilage
@@simply_kenetic4915 god damit
I feel like this company has pricing tiers:
Basic tier: MiG-21
Pro tier: Mirage F1
Gold tier: F-16 and full technical support
Diamond: pilot feet pics
@@RaytheonTechnologies_Official link it dog
@@FreeFallingAir why would I share it with you? I EARNED them feet pics
No
Platinum Tier: F-16s, a UAV and an Elite Team for Extraction
Fun, except for the small matter of Draken not possessing a single live weapon in it's arsenal lol.
Bingo! You understand things. Also, they'd have issues gaining over flight permission to get to a client's country as well as refuelling.
Finally, someone says it.
This should have been adressed in the video. What munitions do they have and how hard would they be to aquire?
They did
@@djsuave_beatsthey don't have any, cause they'd be screwed by the military if they tried to get any
Draken has a operation in my town, got to go into their hanger once!
Same. I got to got to the Lakeland HQ. They had tons of spare parts.
@@steveaustin2686 Same bud! The bar upstairs is very neat 👌
@timothyvalvo900 I didn't get to go to the bar, as I'm a lowly scrub. ;) We walked through a bay with lots of parts and did a photo shoot with my company in front of some of their fighter jets.
@@steveaustin2686 I was the lowest scrub at that point 🤣 was merly delivering pizza.
@@timothyvalvo900demolished and before then bearly used.
I work for Draken as a Licenced Engineer, I work on the Bournemouth flight line supporting our Falcon 20 fleet. I did my apprenticeship with the company and have since stayed. It’s a privilege to see our stuff presented by Mr Whistler himself, it’s a job I’m proud to do and I love sharing it (within allowable reason) 👍
There's also Top Aces, out of Montreal Canada. They were the first civilian operator of the F-16, and currently have a fleet of 29 of them, more than even Draken. They also operate A-4 Skyhawks and Alpha Jet trainers. They've also been around quite a bit longer than Draken
Like Draken, they're primarily contracted to provide aggressor training to militaries, notably the USAF, USMC, USN, RCAF, RAAF, and Luftwaffe. However, their most notable contract in recent history was to train Ukrainian F-16 pilots.
Wait really germany still calls its airforce the luftwaffe?
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle Luftwaffe means Air Force in German.
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle Yep.
Draken don't own any F16's. (The deal to get F16s was cancelled in 2021). Top Aces is the only private operator of the F16 atm.
So, Tom Clancy’s Hawks?
Hawx. But yes.
Minus Adrian De Winter, but yes.
God bless your bringing up that game
are we just gonna forget ace combat? Like HAWX wasn't just a straight ripoff of the concept?
@thej3389 it may not of had the most ground breaking controls or features but the story was pretty good and I played it through multiple times. A definite solid entry in air combat games.
I used to watch these boys when i was a c-130 mechanic im the marine corp. Them boys were the talk of the town when they rolled in.
Marcus Licinius Crassus, a Roman politician and considered one of the wealthiest individuals in ancient Rome, famously said that "no one is rich unless he can support an army from his own income," essentially meaning you're not truly rich unless you can afford to maintain a Roman legion..or AirForce
I can support a Roman Air Force...
Basically with this you are above the law
Draken had no plans for world conquest........until Fact Boy planted the seed!
Hate to admit when I ran the title I thought these guys did bombing runs for warlords and dictators. Kinda nice to see guys who are just trainers.
The 12 year old inside me can't help but get excited at the prospect of an evil mercenary air force owned by evil corpos, and flown by a rag-tag cadre of sociopathic, PTSD-ridden veteran pilots. It would be straight from a comic book or video game.
It bearly could handle the contracts.
Fun fact: The A-4s came from New Zealand on one condition, the RNZAF roundel remain on the aircraft.
The Kiwi is cool. I'd leave it on there even if they didn't tell me to!
And luckily the Kahu Project (named after a NZ Hawk) upgraded the avionics and radar to the same as a contemporary F-16, so it isn't just a Vietnam War era aircraft any more! NZ Govt sold them for cents on the dollar, so Draken nabbed an excellent aircraft for a bargain basement price.
@@kylenewman7101finally the Yanks let us sell them off 😂
@@johngalt2506flightless bird on planes. Only in NZ...
IMO the major factors limiting Draken's ability to become an actual PMC are a lack of access to munitions and logistics. While combat aircraft are scary and all, the thing that actually makes them dangerous are the weapons they carry. Thus far, Draken don't seem to have the access or means of obtaining missiles (bearing in mind different aircraft systems are only compatible with certain missile systems). Likewise, it would be difficult to ship their aircraft around. Meanwhile, Draken don't seem to have any tanker aircraft or the ability of midair refeuelling.
Yet.
All it takes is a coded phone call.
“Merryweather for all your private security needs. How can we help you?”
😂😂😂💯
So, Project Wingman's merc force is a thing?
Looks like it.
How can I buy a raid on my landlord house?
😅
@@brandonbuckles826 Very carefully
Dont bother.....it would cost you more than your backrent 😊
It would cost you your 🏠 on top of the price lol
@@yubakrarai very carefully
Draken means "The Dragon" in Swedish, if you need another reason to think it has a cool name
Draken was one of our old attack aircraft.
@@SusCalvin Interceptor actually, based on the principals of the Avro Arrow, but y'know, actually cheap.
@@SusCalvin Saab 35 was not an attack aircraft! Men godt forsøgt...
You mean to say Drekone
@@dallesamllhals9161 Huh, Ø is not something you see in the swedish language.
Draken International have a base at Durham Tees Valley UK which is my local airport. See them all the time doing training across the local area with RAF and various other planes 👌
Also in Bournemuth in the south of England. I live near Teesside airport and the L159s make quite a noise locally.
@@amazer747 I live over Redcar and agree on the noise. Seen three in formation last week and they shook the world around lol
I was saying, because Draken is a mercenary force, it's probable that they've got some RAF lads in there along with the former US Air Force fliers? Especially since the UK isn't doing right by ANY of their armed forces, so why not just go private?
@@Kaltagstar96 Search UA-cam for the "Aircrew Interviews" series and you'll see an interview with an ex-RAF fast jet pilot who works for them at their Teesside base.
I live close to Draken's Bournemouth International Airport UK operating hub utilizing Dassault Falcon 20 aircraft used in support of Royal Navy ops alond the south coast of the UK. Often to be seen flying over the Cornish skies.
On flightradar you can see them every day off the east coast of England with the Typhoons training along with refueling tankers
Ive delivered to their hanger in kinston NC a few times, pretty laid back folks. They seem to stay to their air to air training niche
What's their pizza of choice? lol
Worked with some of these guys when I was at Mountain Home AFB. L-139s and Mirage F1s, I remember them using the callsign “BADGER”
"what does the world look like if countries could rent a private airforce and use it as a highest bidder see's fit"
Project Wingman got that covered with the sky going ORANGE
To be fair, it wasn't the mercenaries doing that. Feds had a fit that they were losing a territory and decided that if they couldn't have it, they'd break it.
@@SovereignwindVODs thats what i mean, pushed too far by mercs better than them and the country invading it might just push a "button"
I hope these guys won’t start anything in Oceania anytime soon🗿
Ukraine Russia in a bidding war
>
Crimson 1 final mission (ALL IS 🍊)
"i am king of the sky crimson 1, everything else is irrelevant"
It’s “Drah-ken” not “Dre-Ken.” We use them almost daily for contract red air.
Yeah i thought Simon was mispronouncing this also 👍🏻
So it's literally just the Swedish word for Dragon?
Project Wingman IRL going kinda hard. Crimson 1, gonna show up any second now
Strike Commander(1993) Aaw youngling ♥
Do you think they have a squadron called hitman or maybe assassin?
@@captaindonut9243 Wouldn’t surprise me one bit
The Draken pilots and ground crew sits up in their chairs, suddenly a lot more attentive. -Wait, w-what? We could DO all th..... *pilots exchanging glances then slowly starts grinning*
As a X Draken mechanic I find this imaginary scenario GAY.
Is this a Ace Combat Reference. If you need a F-15 pilot just call the demon lord of the round table.
Blackwater had an Air Force with kinetic capabilities in the works but the State Dept said “no.”
Pretty confident that was a good decision to say no
Did you guys use the Geneva Convention as your background at 0:11?
Did someone say Geneva?
@@GenevaSuggestionssi believe it was just a suggestion
@@jasperdavis5517 I’ll make it a checklist
*Geneva Checklist
I've read the entire Geneva convention and can confirm! Well spotted my autistic friend !
The idea is both exciting and scary. Like any weapon, it's all in the intent and usage.
It would be Perfect if Draken could procure some Saab Draken fighters of their own...it would be Draken's Drakens.
They used to have them, hence the name
Are they flying SAAB Draken?
No, that's a jet from the 50s, a bit too old for them.
Their rivals ATAC from Newport News Virginia flew the Drakens but were retired a few years back.
They should offer to train Ukrainians pilots, since they are getting a mishmash of other nations aircrafts that match up nicely to Drakens inventory.
Prob already happening hell prob flying for them
Yeah, they should offer to train Ukrainian pilots to fly airshows over western Ukraine 🤣
The entire f16 thing was a propaganda stunt, they won't go anywhere near the frontlines
@@antimatter4733 You are the only Propaganda stunt here. They were never to go to the front immediately as it was announced when they first started training that it would be territorial defence at first then as training and acquisitions proceeded and facilities built for maitenance there role would progress.
Why? Zelenskyy is just one more example of the CIA overthrowing democratically elected governments. Now their propaganda machine has got you all thinking he's some sort of hero. No, he's just a queer who puts on a hilarious "tough guy" voice when making public appearances. Look at his prior work to see where the "queer" bit comes from.
@@runrau9275 damn, American planes are pretty shit, Russia has been operating on the frontlines the entire time, running hundreds of sorties against American air defenses for years now.
Russian jets better than American jets it seems 🤣
Imagine signing up for a supercool niche private air force, gain your wings, buy the aviators then get posted to Teeside Airport.
There's a documentary on Netflix about Jared Issacman taking himself and 3 others, a geoscientist and science communicatorol who is also a pilot, a Physician Assistant that lost a leg to cancer and was a former patient at St. Judes Hospital and an aerospace data scientist into space with the first all civilian crew. Last week he became the first civilian to do a space walk on the Polaris Dawn.
The late dale Snodgrass was at the time their top instructor and member of the management team
Makes me happy to see that not all of the skyhawks have been fully painted over and still has the kiwi (new Zealand) logo on the speed brake ❤
I know its a bit if a stretch but "What in the Area 88?!"
Ive got pictures of his MiG 29 and matching citation on a stop over in Abilene, TX. Absolutely gorgeous airplane.
Excellent episode Simon! You did finally touch on it at the end with the phrase "...in the wrong hands." There does seem to be the tendency to assume from the outset that all PMCs are inherently malevolent and motivated only by profit and have no moral compass. There are a good many of those, to be sure. However, that is not the case across the board. There are those who choose their contracts very carefully and only accept those that fit a certain moral and ethical model. As one member of a PMC once said "Yes, we do get paid for the work we do. But when you are actively improving or preserving the lives of others and make the world a little bit of a better place, when nations and governments cannot or will not for any number of reasons, you are able to sleep well at night." (I paraphrase, of course, as I do not have the precise quote at hand.) So, Draken has extraordinary capability and could potentially be a game-changer in many parts of the world. This does not mean that they would be an aggressive combatant or destabilizing force. Given that they have 24 F-16s in their inventory and would be piloted by very competent airmen, given their typical role, what good could they do in Ukraine? In either a training role, or in active combat, they could potentially give Ukraine some air superiority, or at least parity. Certainly not air supremacy. I think few would fault them for such an endeavor. Certainly Ukraine would greatly appreciate such assistance.
I honestly have to imagine that if Draken were interested in acting like a flying Wagner Group doing bombing runs on foreign countries for their client, they would've surely just gone ahead and done it by now?
PMCs do ALOT of counter cartel work along the southern border.
Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.
That's wild they still have the kiwi emblem on the A-4 Skyhawks
they are probably serving primarily as practice for the Us airforce and US navy airforces+ to keep retired fighter pilots sharp for any future conflict
You're telling me Ace Combat is real?
Yeah mercenary pilots do exists but they're obviously not so common.
I've seen their mirages here in Texas, pretty cool to see a mirage f1 flying over you down the freeway
Not Draken...
the F-1's you see in Texas are flown by ATAC.
it would be interesting to see an analysis of an alliance of mercenary groups like this and blackwater could defeat the venezuelan government like many people say
Boy, I sure wish I'd known about them years ago. I'd have loved to work on the A-4 again. I wonder what they pay their mechanics.
Thank-you Simon !
We used contractors (not these guys) to simulate adversaries or cruise missiles or drug runners. All ex military, very professional. Part of the capabilities we lost downsizing our air force. No doubt some very well connected ex Generals are part of the mix. Reminds me when we outsourced pilot training or aircraft maintenance for some fleets. Good opportunities for business if you are connected.
Ho, like that you can use live round without decreasing the army size or cause a diplomatic incident by Shanghaing canadians, smart
@@comlitbeta7532 What? There are no live rounds used. These are just unarmed aircraft flying a certain profile to provide training for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
@@PappyGunnit was a joke, i thought the line about kidnapping canadiens to serve as targets was a dead giveaway
@@comlitbeta7532 Sry you never know when you are online in this clown world
@@comlitbeta7532 Probably some ambiguity because the commenter you replied to is Canadian and the company that actually is the world leader in private Red Air by a large margin, Top Aces, is also Canadian.
Top Aces is big and is getting bigger!
draken intl might have the aircraft, but for combat, they need weapons
without weapons all that fleet + expertise is just staying grounded
and the real business opportunity is in integrating whatever weapons are in store into whatever airframe is at hand
coz if you can crack that, barring the top few airforces, everyone will be beating their doors down to award contracts
That kept crossing my mind too. Doesn't matter how cool the jets are, you're not going to war if you don't have missiles and bombs.
@@sethb3090 Also -- this video didn't talk about munitions -- because if they had -- the story wouldn't have sounded as good. Yes, Draken and any other private air force has no power because they don't have access to ordnance. Plus missiles and bombs are expensive -- really outside of the realm of a private air force -- even if you could buy ordnance -- which you can't.
They don't even have the aircraft. The MiG-21s are all scrap and the F-16s don't exist. But Draken and other Red Air contractors are strictly for training and non-combat missions like testing and evaluation. They will never be used in combat.
Israel just pulled off one of the biggest and boldest clandestine operations ever!
Simon, I hope you guys are going to be covering this big time! We want to know as many details as possible.
Just seeing those Skyhawks, with the RNZAF Roundrel of the native Kiwi bird, brings back memories for me.
PROJECT WINGMAN CAME TO REAL LIFE
Draken's F-16 sale was cancelled by the Netherlands and Norway, and the aircraft were redirected to Ukraine and Romania.
Nice advertisement for Dreken.
I've always loved the South African Cheetah's, such a good looking jet and a reminder of how tough SA was.
This sounds like the backstory to an ace combat game
Galm (AC Zero) and Scarface (AC1 AC2) are mercenaries
ATACS is a similar company that recently bought a bunch of F-18's and OMNI Air does private tanker duty.
They have no rockets, bombs or missiles....seems like a huge pitfall. So, they couldn't take on any air force, unless they're kamikazes...
They fly from teeside uk almost every day and practice with RAF hawks and typhoons. There has been tons of activity round over the last year
10:42 spit on that thang
The A-4 wasn’t the first aircraft to use the Sidewinder in combat. That was the Taiwanese F-86 Sabre’s in the 1950’s.
The world's most advanced private air force is actually Air USA, which has a fleet of 46 F/A-18C Super Hornets, mostly to fly adversary roles roles in fighter training missions. Had a company like Draken or AirUSA existed when I left the Navy, I would have put my application in, especially because it would have meant still flying, but no more sea duty.
F/A-18C is just a Hornet, not a Super Hornet. The E/F versions are the "Super Hornets"
@@Mark-zs9small the F/A series are Super Hornets, right? The regular Hornets have the F-18 designation with no attack letter.
Those were As and Bs (legacy Hornets), and that deal fell through at the end of 2023 before they ever took delivery of any of them. They aren't even remotely comparable to Draken. They have a few L-39s, a few Hawks, and a few F-5s.
@@sethb3090 Only the CF-188 is designated as an "F-18" and only internally by McDouglas, all of them are F/A-18s
@@Mark-zs9sm You're right; that's what I get for trying to dash off a comment too quickly. The worst part is, I know better!
Something worth mentioning is there was brief talks within Ireland of contracting Draken to act as interceptors enforcing their airspace instead of being dependent upon the UK, this was however ultimately decided against, deciding the RAF were a better option than a private company
So the Quantum of Solace Air guard? Cool.
Draken is also a denonym for the Domination of the Draka in SM Stirling's dystopian alternate history/sci-fi series.
Just from a common sense perspective, not being a mil. expert, this video seems a bit nonsensical. Airplanes seem way more complicated than a foot-soldier mercenary that can be deployed with a gun and a can of tuna. Fuel, maintenance, transportation to deployment destination, integration into radar, satellite and communication systems, sophisticated weaponry not easy to purchase ...
I am not sure you can do anything by just having some combat airplanes - where are the carriers, refuelling airplanes, where are they going to get high grade aircraft weaponry if the US is not going to be directly involved and so on?
Yep.
I think the only posibile way to be practical as air force for hire is to have a carrier of sorts but even that is a strech.
All about the bang no bang useless
Top Aces also has a considerable air fleet.
60 Alpha Jets
22 A4's
29 F-16's
I'm going up north to repair their A4's who fly target designation for the german air forces every couple of months.
Ffs, Simon, change out of the t-shirt you slept in.
Have known about this company and Top Aces (and others) for years now. As cool as "private air force" sounds, they are pretty much a training school with occasional non-combat assignments.
Yes -- and with zero ordnance.
@@quantus5875 some training ordnance. Nobody's going to war armed with BDU-33s and LGTRs though.
Third
Very interesting video! Although I think the airforce comparison with actual countries, while interesting and gets the point across, kinda makes it look like if you don't have a superior airforce you are literally helpless. Anti air systems can make a difference and some military objectives cannot really be accomplished without land forces. Still super impressive to think a PMC could easily take on the air force of many countries, but still worth taking those factors into account.
First
You would be first.
lol
Good topic and video. Well done.
I live right next to Durham tees valley airport where Draken Europe has a bunch of Aero L-159Es and Dassault Falcon DA20. They fly regularly and low on their way out to the North Sea for EW and aggressor training!
Private Fighter Pilot sounds scary. On the way back to the Airbase in a combat zone, with the Patriot SAM’s.
In addition to the pilots, I am in awe of Draken's mechanics. That is a wide range of airplanes to be maintaining at combat readiness.
Tom Clancy’s HAWX comes to mind, I actually liked that game and its story. The book was just as good too.
Would be cool if they could get some CAS units in their fleet like the Warthog or Frogfoot.
good job kudos to this channel on the topic
I live near where these guys are at. Always air Shows with them
I enjoyed this video.
Thank you!
You missed one major point that would make any sort of PMC Air Force outside of Russia or maybe China not work. When Draken buys these aircraft from countries, there is almost always a part of the contract that specifies how the aircraft can be used. Basically a "don't kill people or fight foreign countries with these" rule. And while the contract could theoretically be disregarded, it would likely have the effect of closing the company off from new aircraft and necessary equipment replacement purchases. So a truly private PMC Air Force could probably only be used in war once and then it would pretty quickly fall apart.
The only way for a PMC Air Force to work is if it is, like Wagner, a state sanctioned tool of gray zone warfare.
10:31 The B roll is not of a F/A18 Super Hornet.
It's a F/A18 'legacy' hornet.
They have a big office near me in Texas, I see their Mirages all the time.
Ai wishes it could present like Simon. He must surely be the most popular hired-gun on UA-cam.
Oh man, I still have a pen from them that's like 10 years old. It writes pretty comfortably lol
Damn, Kojima predicted even this
I just love seeing how we are slowly moving to the Metal Gear Solid world
Please make a video on the pagers and hostage situation. I need to hear the clear cut mind of Warographic take on it
Lol. Tapping left arrow at the start of this video is fun.
I live like 15 minutes from Lakeland, FL and never knew there was a PMC at the airport
I fly out of KLAL where they are based. The Lakeland location is mainly just for the air demo team
Man.
This makes me want to rewatch Area88
I'd never thought will be living in the world of Ace Combat.
This felt less like telling us about the group and more like worrying about what they represent, which isn't exactly what I expected.
I'll worry when they arm their planes
Ok the one question that I have is: How would Drakken get into a foreign theater ? Fighters tend to have a relatively short range. That is why America maintanes a fleet of aircraft carriers and more importantly KC-130 aerial refueling aircraft.
Lmao, I see where Star Citizen found their inspiration for the "Drake interplanetary" ships
The delicious aroma from the kitchen was ruined by cigarette smoke.
As far as I understand it, these guys don't have any live weapons. At most they would have real missiles with inert warheads. This would tend to put them at a significant disadvantage when fighting literally anyone with real missiles, or even live cannon rounds.
Yes - no ordnance. I liked this video -- but pure fantasy -- it's a cool organization but the only role it can fill is a valuable training role.
1:10 - Chapter 1 - The company
4:45 - Chapter 2 - The kit
12:10 - Chapter 3 - The mission