Naval Air Tactics Centre
The Naval Air Tactics Centre (NATC) is a joint command of the Royal Acrean Air Force and Royal Acrean Navy which serves as a center of development for fighter and strike tactics, and teaches advanced tactics to select aviators of the RAAF and Navy to qualify them as squadron instructors. NATC is considered an advanced "graduate level" course that builds upon the comprehensive air combat syllabus all Acrean fighter aircrew go through during the Fighter Weapons School (FWS) phase of their training.
History
NATC was established by the Royal Acrean Navy on March 3, 1968 at MFS Castelle in Castelle, Côte d'Or, in order to consolidate the development of emerging tactics used by carrier aircrews. A similar program had been initiated a few years earlier in 1964, but was done as a component of fleet training. NATC quickly established itself as an authority on the development and instruction of advanced air combat tactics. The RAAF sent its first pilots to NATC in 1969, and introduced a similar program called "Advanced Air Tactics Instruction (AATI)" in 1971. The Air Force program was relatively short-lived; in 1976, the program was rolled into NATC, with its instructors joining the NATC staff. NATC officially became a joint program in 1978, and was established as its own joint command in 1981.
Early on, effective and extremely high quality instructors were identified as the key to NATC's success in improving the performance of pilots across the squadrons. It was built from a cadre of some of the Acrean Navy and Air Force's most operationally experienced officers, and quickly became a nucleus of subject matter expertise on all aspects of tactical fighter aviation included weapon systems and their employment. Instructor staff at NATC are required to be subject matter experts on at least one subject (such as adversary surface-to-air threats, fighter threats, strike tactics, etc.) and will teach their class as part of NATC's 16-week course. Students at NATC are expected to not only learn and employ this knowledge, but to also understand it to a degree that allows them to serve as training officers in their operational squadrons.
NATC is considered one of the most significant repositories of knowledge on global fighter aviation in Acrea and maintains several qualified test pilots on its staff. In addition to flying aggressor versions of Acrean and allied aircraft, including the Ossorian T-35 Séideán and examples of the AFASF-12 Drago, NATC also maintains a significant fleet of captured adversary fighters and is known to fly captured examples of the JF10 and JF9 as part of its exploitation programs.
Legacy
Throughout its history, NATC has had a consequential effect on Acrean tactical naval aviation, as well as a significant influence on military tactical aviation in the Acrean military as a whole. This influence was first demonstrated in the late 1960s when the first tender for the next generation of frontline naval fighters was introduced. Two competing needs initially existed: the first was for a capable, affordable, durable strike fighter which could perform any strike mission the Navy required. The second was for a fleet defence fighter, which could fly high and fast with a large air-air payload to confront new threats such as the AFSB-2 Spettro Strategic Bomber. Although the Navy focused on the development of the former, NATC's influence played a large part in the altering requirements for the then in-development EF-181 Cobra. Due to NATC's lobbying, the fighter significantly overhauled with much more powerful engines, a more powerful radar, and was accompanied by new missiles to allow the already highly agile and nimble fighter to perform all of the air combat missions NATC envisioned, and match or exceed the performance of competing adversary naval fighter aircraft. The Cobra's introduction into service brought the already joint program closer together, as the RAAF adopted the new fighter as a stopgap heavy fighter until its own program which would eventually lead to the EF-165 Draken came to fruition.