RSAF F-16 USA Detachment
Tuesday, 15th September 1998
In 1998, the governments of the United States and Singapore signed an agreement laying the foundation of the Peace Carvin III (PC Three) program. As a Foreign Military Sales training program for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), Peace Carvin III was designed for the continued training of RSAF in rapid deployment and tactical employment of the block 52 F-16 C/D throughout a wide spectrum of missions including air to- air, joint maritime and precision air-to-ground weapons delivery.
In support of Peace Carvin III, the USAF 428th Fighter Squadron was reactivated on 15 September 1998 and tasked to take the lead in Peace Carvin III. The squadron was a hybrid of USAF and RSAF F-16 C/D manned by USAF instructor pilots, Singaporean pilots and combined RSAF and USAF teams of maintenance and support personnel.
In May 1999, the 428th Fighter Squadron participated in its first official major exercise after its reactivation. The squadron deployed to Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, for exercise Combat Archer. The exercise was designed to test weapons capabilities, tactics and employment. This included the first live firing of radar-guided air-to air AIM-7 Sparrow by the RSAF.
Photo Credit: Flickr.
Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon F-16C/D Block 50/52 variant aircraft are equipped with improved GPS/INS, and the aircraft can carry a further batch of advanced missiles: the AGM-88 HARM missile, JDAM, JSOW and WCMD. The Block 52 jets use the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229, an afterburning turbofan engine manufactured by Pratt & Whitney.
Update 6 July 2005: With Peace Carvin III completed, the USAF 428th Squadron was inactivated.