425th Fighter Squadron

The 425th Fighter Squadron (425 FS) is part of the 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting advanced fighter training.

The squadron's World War II predecessor unit, the 425th Night Fighter Squadron was assigned to Ninth Air Force in England, as a P-61 Black Widow interceptor unit. Its mission was to defend Allied-controlled airspace over England and the liberated areas of Western Europe against night Luftwaffe attacks.

Mission
The 425th Fighter Squadron's mission is to provide advanced weapons and tactics continuation training for Republic of Singapore Air Force F-16 pilots, weapon systems officers and maintenance personnel. RSAF aircrew and maintenance personnel are assigned to the 425th for two years, during which they receive advanced tactics training, participate in Red Flag, shoot live missiles at Combat Archer, and deploy to locations throughout the United States to participate in composite operations and dissimilar air combat exercises.

The tailband consists of black with red trim and red lion heads in a row. The lion head is in the same form that is in the RSAF insignia. The tail code is the standard 'LF' seen at Luke AFB but the country insignia is either RSAF or USAF depending on who owns the aircraft.

World War II
Constituted as the 425th Night Fighter Squadron on 23 November 1943, and activated on 1 December, the 425th was originally assigned to the 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group, Orlando Air Base, Florida. The unit was reassigned, beginning on 30 January 1944, to bases in California before arriving at its first European station at RAF Chormy Down, England, 26 May 1944 as a unit of 9th Air Force. After being reassigned to various bases in England, the 425th settled at its first home base on the European Continent at Vannes, France on 18 August 1944. During the air war in Europe, the 425th flew the YP-61, A-20, P-61, and P-70 aircraft. The unit was at several locations in California between 8 September 1945 and 1 September 1946, before arriving at McChord Field, Washington. The 425th was inactivated on 25 August 1947.

Cold War
The unit was reactivated at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona on 15 October 1969 as the 425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron and was assigned to the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, replacing the provisional 4441st Combat Crew Training Squadron. Initially equipped with the F-5C Freedom Fighters of the 4441st, the squadron's initial mission was Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) for South Vietnamese Air Force pilots in the aircraft.

In 1973 with the end of the Vietnam War, the squadron was assigned the task of training the aircrews of nations that had acquired the Northrop F-5E Tiger II under the Mutual Assistance Pact (MAP). The first F-5E Tiger II was delivered to the 425th on 6 April 1973. Although the USAF did not operate any F-5s at the time, the F-5E/Fs assigned to the 425th carried USAF serial numbers and were procured through normal aircraft procurement procedures and channels. Carried tail code "LZ".

Training proceeded at Williams throughout the 1970s. The 425th TFTS was reassigned to the 405th Tactical Training Wing as of 29 August 1979 when the 405th was activated at Luke, although the squadron remained at Williams AFB. Pilots from over 20 nations who purchased the Tiger II were trained by the 425th.

In the late 1980s, the fleet of the F-5s was getting rather worn out as a result of sustained exposure to the rigors of air combat maneuvering and training. The problem began with the loss of F-5F 73-0890 based at Williams AFB. It was lost in a training accident in which it broke in half during maneuvering, killing both the student and instructor pilot. An investigation later showed that the most likely cause of the accident was a failure in the upper fuselage longeron, probably a result of fatigue or corrosion. An inspection later showed that about a third of the fleet had cracked or fatigued upper longerons. Although no stateside aircraft were grounded they were restrictions placed on operations in which pilots were warned not to exceed a certain G-load. Some repair kits had to be devised to overcome these problems, and the estimated cost of repair of the entire fleet was beginning to exceed a billion dollars.

In addition, the appearance of a new generation of Soviet fighters made it apparent that that F-5Es could no longer perform adequately against Warsaw Pact threats. In June 1989, the squadron's F-5 training program terminated after having produced 1,499 graduates, and the 425th was inactivated 1 September 1989.

Modern era
On 30 December 1992, the 425th was reactivated at Luke AFB under the designation 425th Fighter Squadron “Black Widows.” The new mission of the 425th was providing advanced weapons and tactics continuation for Republic of Singapore Air Force's F-16 pilots and maintenance personnel. Aircraft had already arrived for the squadron in October and shortly after in the new year pilot training began in January 1993.

Although the squadron has an American heritage, it was mix of both USAF and RSAF personnel and equipment. At first the squadron borrowed F-16A/B block 15s from the USAF in late 1992. This consisted of seven F-16As and two F-16Bs which were all borrowed. Most likely by coincidence, the Republic of Singapore Air Force ended up buying one of these F-16As years later that had been borrowed by them from the USAF. On 3 June 1998 the RSAF obtained F-16A #81-0677 as a GF-16A for ground maintenance/handling and weapons loading training. To complete the squadron, seven F-16A/Bs were sent from Singapore to join the squadron.

In 1995 the squadron leased twelve USAF F-16C/D block 42s as their nine USAF block 15s were withdrawn from service. The seven F-16A/Bs owned by the RSAF flew back to Singapore during this time period as well. In the end, the USAF could not honor the lease as they needed the block 42s back. A deal was struck with Lockheed Martin to lease a dozen new-built F-16C/D block 52's (4 F-16Cs and 8 F-16Ds) with options to buy them later. The aircraft were leased for a 2.5 year period, for an estimated cost of USD $12.3 million. This program had no name assigned like the Peace Carvin FMS arrangement.

RSAF pilots and maintenance personnel are assigned to the 425th FS for two years. During their tour of duty they receive advanced tactics training, participate in Red Flag, shoot live missiles at Combat Archer and deploy to locations throughout the U.S. to participate in composite operations and dissimilar air combat exercises.

Lineage

 * Constituted as the 425th Night Fighter Squadron on 23 November 1943
 * Activated on 1 December 1943.
 * Inactivated on 25 August 1947


 * Redesignated: 425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron on 22 August 1969
 * Activated on 15 October 1969
 * Inactivated on 1 September 1989


 * Redesignated: 425th Fighter Squadron on 1 December 1992.
 * Activated on 30 December 1992

Assignments

 * 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group, 1 December 1943
 * IX Fighter Command, 23 May 1944
 * IX Air Defense Command, 10 June 1944
 * 471st Fighter Wing (Provisional), 20 June 1944
 * IX Air Defense Command, 6 August 1944
 * XIX Tactical Air Command, 7 October 1944
 * Ninth Air Force, 7 July 1945
 * Fourth Air Force, 9 September 1945
 * Air Defense Command, 21 March 1946
 * Fourth Air Force, 31 July 1946 – 25 August 1947
 * 58 Tactical Fighter Training (later, 58 Tactical Training) Wing, 15 October 1969
 * 405 Tactical Training Wing, 29 August 1979 – 1 September 1989
 * 58th Operations Group, 30 December 1992
 * 56th Operations Group, 1 April 1994–present

Stations

 * Orlando Army Air Base, Florida, 1 December 1943
 * Hammer Field, California, 30 January 1944
 * Visalia AAF, California, 25 February – 1 May 1944
 * RAF Charmy Down (AAF-487), England, 26 May 1944
 * RAF Scorton (AAF-425), England, 12 June 1944
 * Stoneman Park, England, 12 August 1944
 * Vannes Airfield (A-33), France, 18 August 1944
 * Coulommiers Airfield (A-58), France, 11 September 1944
 * Prosnes Airfield (A-79), France, 13 October 1944
 * Verdun Airfield (A-82), France, 9 November 1944


 * Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Airfield (Y-73), Germany, 12 April 1945
 * Furth/Industriehafen Airfield (R-30), Germany, 2 May 1945
 * Crépy-en-Laommis, France, 5 July 1945 (Ground Echelon)
 * Saint-Victoret, France, 18–24 August 1945 (Ground Echelon)
 * Lemoore Army Airfield, California, 9 September 1945
 * Camp Pinedale, California, 23 October 1945
 * March Field, California, 8 March 1946
 * McChord Field, Washington, 1 September 1946 – 25 August 1947
 * Williams AFB, Arizona, 15 October 1969 – 1 September 1989
 * Luke AFB, Arizona, 30 December 1992 – present

Reference for lineage, assignments and stations

Aircraft operated

 * YP-61 (1944)
 * P-61 Black Widow (1944–1947)
 * A-20 Havoc (1944)


 * P-70 (1944)
 * F-5 Freedom Fighter (1969–1989)
 * F-16 Fighting Falcon (1993–present)

Reference