Top Aces Inc. is a

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

-based defence contractor that offers contracted airborne training services to the Canadian Armed Forces through the Contracted Airborne Training Services (CATS) program. Top Aces operates a fleet of modernized fighter aircraft to provide Red Air threat replication, Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) training, practice munitions drop, air-to-air gunnery training and naval target tow profiles for the Canadian and German militaries. It also provides

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

training and tactics development, and supports advanced radar trials in nationally controlled environments. All Electronic Warfare Officers and EW role equipment are provided by 414 Electronic Warfare Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force as part of the CATS contract. Canadian Armed Forces personnel are authorized to fly on board Top Aces fighter aircraft. Top Aces Alpha Jet line up (3561708083)

History

Top Aces was founded in 2000 by three former

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

CF-18 The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

fighter pilots. In 2005, Top Aces signed a $94-million contract with the Canadian Armed Forces to supply contracted combat support and adversary training. In 2014, the company signed a contract to provide fast jet airborne training services to the

German Armed Forces The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

for five years. In 2017, Top Aces was awarded a long-term Contracted Airborne Training Services contract with the Government of Canada. In March 2017, Top Aces was awarded a contract to provide training support to the Australian Defence Force, with three

Alpha Jet The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform trainer and light attack missions, as ...

aircraft deployed to RAAF Base Williamtown for two years. Top Aces, formerly Discovery Air Defence Services (DADS), is no longer a 'Wholly Owned Subsidiary' of the parent company Discovery Air. It is now owned by Clairvest and other unnamed investors with transactions completed on 22 December 2017. As of July 2018, Top Aces Inc, Top Aces Holdings Inc and Clairvest are subject to ongoing legal proceedings lodged in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List).

Fleet

Some Alpha Jets retained the German Air Force paint schemes, but others have been repainted in aggressor camouflage colours that mimic certain foreign aircraft. Small low visibility Canadian flags have been added to the vertical tail stabilizers of aircraft contracted to the Royal Canadian Air Force. As of 2022, the fleet consists of 46 aircraft including: In addition the

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transporta ...

site lists a Canadair CL-600 and a Learjet 35 both with cancelled registration certificates.

Further purchases

In November 2020, it was reported that Top Aces was in negotiations with the Israeli Ministry of Defense for the purchase of 29 early model F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft with a cost-per unit price of $3–4 million. Four of the planned 29 F-16s arrived in Top Aces F-16 Center of Excellence in Mesa, Arizona in January 2021. Top Aces plans to ship the rest of the orders in 12 batches with two jets arriving every other month.

References

External links

Official site
{{Airlines of Canada Defence companies of Canada 2000 establishments in Quebec Companies based in Montreal Companies established in 2000