The brand new paint scheme of High Aces’ F-16 mimics that of the Russian Su-57 “Felon” fighter jet.
On Aug. 4, 2025, one among High Aces’ former Israeli Air Power F-16A Netz plane was noticed flying for the primary time with an eye catching new adversary paint scheme. The livery is clearly impressed by the Russian Su-57 and has been dubbed the “Felon paint job.”
The plane flew from Mesa Gateway Airport, the place High Aces performs upkeep on its F-16s, to Luke AFB, Arizona, as ACES 51. It then carried out a neighborhood mission from Luke over Arizona below the callsign ACES 1. The mission could possibly be tracked on-line on flight monitoring web sites Flightradar24.com and ADSBExchange.com.
One or two pictures of the jet being wheeled out of the paint barn at Mesa had surfaced on-line, however its return to Luke AFB supplied a greater take a look at the brand new colour scheme, because of the pictures taken by William Ellison.
The F-16, tail quantity N871TA and bort quantity “284” Purple, contains a low-visibility, splinter-style gray camouflage sample just like that utilized by Russia’s fifth-generation stealth fighter. The 2-tone scheme contains angular transitions throughout the airframe, mimicking the faceted radar-evading design philosophy of the T-50/Su-57.
The jet additionally carries Soviet-style purple stars on the tail and wings and, on the tail fin, a Cyrillic script that reads “Опыт Важен” (translating to “Expertise Issues”), a refined nod to High Aces’ core mission of offering extremely skilled pilots and real looking menace emulation for U.S. and allied forces.
Apparently, the plane additionally retains the kill marking it earned in September 1981, when Netz #284 shot down a Syrian MiG-23.
The F-16A Netz (Hawk) is likely one of the plane which had been retired from the Israeli Air Power on the finish of 2016 and delivered within the US in 2021. Whereas plane N871TA had retained a paint scheme just like the one worn whereas nonetheless in service with the Israeli Air Power, High Aces had already begun repainting its F-16s with extra Aggressor-style liveries. Final 12 months, we reported on one among their jets sporting a “Flanker Blue” colour scheme, impressed by the one utilized by some F-16s of the U.S. Air Power’s sixty fourth Aggressor Squadron at Nellis Air Power Base, Nevada. It’s protected to imagine High Aces will undertake extra paint schemes past the Flanker Blue and Felon to its F-16 fleet.
In 2021, High Aces Corp. obtained its first batch of 4 F-16 Preventing Falcons from the Israeli Air Power, out of a complete order of 29 plane. These jets, had been delivered to the U.S. firm with unspecified configurations and subsequently upgraded to a typical that is called F-16 AAF (Superior Aggressor Fighter).
The enhancements included the proprietary Superior Aggressor Mission System (AAMS), which permits the F-16s to precisely replicate near-peer adversary fighters, enhancing coaching realism for U.S. pilots. This method, mixed with AESA radars, Scorpion Helmet Mounted Shows, datalinks, and digital countermeasures, gives a complete suite of simulated superior threats, though the plane function in a clear configuration with simulated weapons solely. Apparently, the High Aces’ F-16s have been geared up with IRST pods since 2024.
Such upgrades make them credible surrogates for superior menace plane, such because the Su-35 or Su-57.
