Aggressors Air Combat Maneuver for F-5E

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Welcome back to the 65th Aggressor Squadron. BFM is just the beginning, and it is now time to teach proper air combat using the same type of DACT (Dissimilar Aircraft Combat Training) setup. This time, though, it is no longer a matter of that rare one-on-one gun-jousting dogfights, but about full wing vs. wing engagement using radars and missiles and with a wingman to both help and rely on. The focus is on manoeuvring along with your wingman to put the opponents on the defensive and to defeat them more with tactics than with fancy gunnery.

Just like before, you take to the skies over the NTTR in your F-5E-3 to engage in 2v2 engagements with a wide variety of opposing aircraft. Obviously, you need to own both the F-5E-3 aircraft and the Nevada terrain modules to use this Campaign.

The campaign does not offer any kind of plot or storyline, just a set of sparring matches against singular AI opponents, but comes with plenty of voice-overs from observers and exercise commanders grading yours and your opponents' performance. It is not just a matter of getting a quick fight in, but also about properly navigating around the NTTR to get to the training area without disturbing the locals, and about following the safety regulations for both the trip and the engagement. Unlike the BFM campaign, both you and the opponents will be using guided weapons, with the added complexity of engagement envelopes and counter-measure usage this entails.

The supporting material provides maps, navigational charts, and procedure walk-throughs for flying to and checking in and out of the designated combat areas. There are many mountain ridges, dried lakes, and stretches of desert out there, and while it will eventually be very familiar, you still need to be sure you end up in the right place at the right time — the support documents are there to help you with exactly that.

The missions

Ingress and egress to INDIA.

The campaign puts you through 24 DACT engagements over the course of 12 sorties, largely following the pattern of the F-5E BFM campaign. Each sortie consists of two 5-minute engagements against a specific target type. A hard deck of 10,000' is in effect and you are required to follow proper check-in/check-out and ROE procedures. As with the BFM campaign, surviving or forcing the enemy below the hard deck counts as much as a win as shooting them down — they failed in their mission, so you succeeded in yours.

• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 aggressor F-5E:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 Luftwaffe F-4E:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 USN F-14A:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 French M-2000C:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 CDN CF-188:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 USAF F-16C:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 Luftwaffe MiG-29G:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 RAAF F/A-18C:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 Polish MiG-21:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 IAF F-15C:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 USAF F-15E:s.
• Guns and AIM-9P 2v2 against 2×2 unknown aircraft…

By now, you are expected to know the area, the routes, and the navigation procedures so familiarisation is not as much of a concern. Nevertheless, you are to get to where you are going using the limited navigation options available in the F-5E-3, so if yo have skipped the BFM campaign and not gotten them down pat, you will probably want to brush up on that good old TACAN methodology.

More information

• F-5E Aggressors Air Combat Maneuver Campaign by Maple Flag Missions in the DCS shop.
• 65th Aggressor Squadron on wikipedia.

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Campaign modules
A‑10C	Basic Flight Training Qualification (BFTQ) · Advanced Aircraft Training Qualification (AATQ) · Tactical Training Qualification Campaign (TTQC) · 16‑2 Red Flag · The Enemy Within · Operation Piercing Fury · Stone Shield · Operation Persian Freedom
AJS‑37	16‑2 Red Flag
AV‑8B NA	Sky Warrior
Bf 109 K‑5	Jagdflieger
Combined Arms	Frontlines Georgia
F‑5E‑3	Aggressors Basic Fighter Maneuvers (BFM) · Aggressors Air Combat Maneuver (ACM) · Black Sea Resolve ′79
F‑14A & B	Zone 5 · Fear the Bones
F‑15C	Aggressors BFM · 16‑2 Red Flag · The Georgian War
F‑16C	Red Flag 21-1
F/A‑18C	Aggressors BFM · Operation Pontus · Raven One · Rising Squall · The Serpent's Head 2
F‑86F	Hunters over the Yalu · The Museum Relic
Fw 190 A‑8	Horrido!
Ka‑50	Memory of a Hero · Republic · Pandemic
L‑39	Kursant
M‑2000C	M‑2000C Red Flag Campaign by Baltic Dragon
Mi‑8MTV2	The Border Campaign · Crew Part 1 · Memory of a Hero · Oilfield Campaign
MiG‑15bis	The Museum Relic
P‑47D	Wolfpack
P‑51D	The Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney · Charnwood · High Stakes
Spitfire L.F. Mk. IX	The Big Show · Operation Epsom
Su‑27	The Ultimate Argument
UH‑1H	Argo · Worlds Apart - Spring 2025