A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the 18th Aggressor Squadron has been given a black color scheme. Inspired by the Chinese stealth jet or something else?

Update: According to Eielson AFB, the one sported by the aircraft is actually a half finished paint scheme. The aircraft will be given a splinter color scheme after RF-A.

The U.S. Air Force has just released some cool shots taken during RED FLAG-Alaska (RF-A) 17-3, underway at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.

Among these, the most interesting one was taken on Jul. 31, 2017 and shows a U.S. Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon aircraft, 86-0295, assigned to the 18th Aggressor Squadron: the aircraft, previously wearing the “arctic” Aggressors color scheme is now sporting a brand new overall black livery.

F-16C belonging to the 64th and 18th AGRS have been sporting different paint schemes for decades now. As reported last year, when the 64th AGRS unveiled a new “splinter” F-16 the purpose of these liveries is to make the Aggressor jets as similar as possible to the real threats and put the pilots in training against the Red Air in a similar situation to what they would see during an engagement with the opposing combat air forces.

“Exotic” paint jobs have become a distinguishing feature of U.S. Air Force Aggressors to make their fighter jets similar to a Russian 4th and 5th generation aircraft. However, the new, black livery might have been inspired by a Chinese aircraft: the Shenyang J-31 Falcon Eagle (or “FC-31 fifth Generation Multi-Purpose Medium Fighter”), China’s second stealth fighter jet.

Indeed, the first prototype of the aircraft, that performed its maiden flight on Oct 31, 2012, and made a public appearance on Nov. 12, 2014 at Zhuhai Airshow, was painted in a black color scheme somehow similar to the one recently applied to the F-16C of the 18th AGRS. This would probably be the first time the Aggressors give a Chinese-inspired color scheme to one of their aircraft.

Let us know what you think. Inspired by the J-31 or by something else?

H/T to our friennd @aircraftspots for the heads up! Top image credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Isaac Johnson.

Related articles

• • Video of China’s second stealth fighter’s maiden flight
  • [Photo] Two Lightnings fly together: F-35A and P-38 over Luke Air Force Base
  • “If we don’t keep F-22 Raptor viable, the F-35 fleet will be irrelevant” Air Combat Command says
  • To be honest, this F-35 fighter jet High-AOA testing video has nothing to be impressed of
  • [Photo] Air-to-Air images of Australia’s first F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter
  • Here’s the first and second Australian F-35 Lightning II aircraft

Salva

Salva

Salva

An Aggressors’ F-16 prepares to take off to participate in training exercise.

Captured shortly after sunrise on Jan. 24, 2016, the gorgeous photo in this post shows an F-16 Fighting Falcon belonging to the 18th Aggressor Squadron preparing for take off from Eielson Air Force Base.

The aircraft in the picture was taking part in training exercise Forceful Tiger at Kadena Air Base, Japan, that gathered ,ore than 150 maintainers from the 354th Fighter Wing to keep the Aggressors in the air and prepare U.S. Airmen, Sailors and Marines for contingency operations along with coalition partners in the Pacific theater.

Aimed to demonstrate the 18th Wing’s combat capabilities to defend Okinawa, Forceful Tiger was a large force exercise (LFE) during which a total of 132 aircraft, including 65 F-15 Eagles, 14 F-16 Fighting Falcons, 32 F-22 Raptors, one E-3 Sentry and 20 USMC F/A-18 Hornets, were involved.

Image credit: Staff Sgt. Shawn Nickel / U.S. Air Force

 

Related articles

• Super GoPro video of U.S. F-16s raging at Red Flag Alaska
• Polish Air Force F-16s join one of the most important NATO exercises in central Europe
• Dogfights, low level flying, live firing at Red Flag-Alaska through F-16’s GoPro cameras
• A quick look at why the F-16N was the best plane to simulate soviet “bandits” in adversary missions.
• U.S. has just deployed 14 F-16s to Estonia
• [Photo] F-22 Raptor zooming through the clouds during demo training
• [Video] Red Flag 15-2 Night Launches