Canadian adversary aircraft operator Top Aces has more than doubled its fleet with the purchase of all 25 of Belgium’s Alpha Jets. The Alphas were put up for sale by the Belgian Air Component in 2019 and the deal with Top Aces went through earlier this year. The selling price was not disclosed. Top Aces has been using 20 ex-German Alphas, made by Dornier, for more than 10 years to train fighter pilots in the Canadian, Australian and German Air Force in dogfighting and tactical operations. It’s also working on a deal to buy Israeli F-16s to use in a potential contract with the U.S. Air Force.
Top Aces has about 40 pilots, all ex-fighter jocks from the RCAF, German and U.S. military, many of them combat veterans and 80 percent of them graduates of the Top Gun air weapons school.