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OpFor Mirage F1 Fighter Jet Crashes In Las Vegas, Pilot Dead
Published 3 years ago
A Mirage F1 fighter aircraft crashed near Nellis Air Force base in the vicinity of Las Vegas and the pilot reportedly died.
The French-made Mirage F1 was housed at Nellis but belonged to Draken US, a Florida-based defense contractor that provides the US military with "Red Air" opposing force (OpFor) aircraft and pilots for air-to-air battle drills.
The identity of the pilot and details of damage to ground structures is still not forthcoming. From the witness videos, the crash appears to have taken place in or near a residential area.
Draken, based out of Lakeland Florida, also offers international support contracts. Interestingly, the American contractor, Jamie Sponaugle, who was shot down in 2019 over Libya while flying combat sorties for the GNA in a Mirage F1, had Lakeland listed as his current home of record at the time of the incident. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume that Draken was being contracted as a private air force by the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in the fight against the LNA during that time.