425th Fighter Squadron The 425th Fighter Squadron ( 425 FS ) is part of the 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base , Arizona . It operates the F - 16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting advanced fighter training . The squadron ' s World War II predecessor unit , the 425th Night Fighter Squadron was assigned to Ninth Air Force in England , as a P - 61 Black Widow interceptor unit . Its mission was to defend Allied - controlled airspace over England and the liberated areas of Western Europe against night Luftwaffe attacks . Mission . The 425th Fighter Squadron ' s mission is to provide advanced weapons and tactics continuation training for Republic of Singapore Air Force F - 16 pilots , weapon systems officers and maintenance personnel . RSAF aircrew and maintenance personnel are assigned to the 425th for two years , during which they receive advanced tactics training , participate in Red Flag , shoot live missiles at Combat Archer , and deploy to locations throughout the United States to participate in composite operations and dissimilar air combat exercises . The tailband consists of black with red trim and red lion heads in a row . The lion head is in the same form that is in the RSAF insignia . The tail code is the standard ' LF ' seen at Luke AFB but the country insignia is either RSAF or USAF depending on who owns the aircraft . History . World War II . Constituted as the 425th Night Fighter Squadron on 23 November 1943 , and activated on 1 December , the 425th was originally assigned to the 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group , Orlando Air Base , Florida . The unit was reassigned , beginning on 30 January 1944 , to bases in California before arriving at its first European station at RAF Chormy Down , England , 26 May 1944 as a unit of 9th Air Force . After being reassigned to various bases in England , the 425th settled at its first home base on the European Continent at Vannes , France on 18 August 1944 . During the air war in Europe , the 425th flew the YP - 61 , A - 20 , P - 61 , and P - 70 aircraft . The unit was at several locations in California between 8 September 1945 and 1 September 1946 , before arriving at McChord Field , Washington . The 425th was inactivated on 25 August 1947 . Cold War . The unit was reactivated at Williams Air Force Base , Arizona on 15 October 1969 as the 425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron and was assigned to the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing at Luke Air Force Base , Arizona , replacing the provisional 4441st Combat Crew Training Squadron . Initially equipped with the F - 5C Freedom Fighters of the 4441st , the squadron ' s initial mission was Undergraduate Pilot Training ( UPT ) for South Vietnamese Air Force pilots in the aircraft . In 1973 with the end of the Vietnam War , the squadron was assigned the task of training the aircrews of nations that had acquired the Northrop F - 5E Tiger II under the Mutual Assistance Pact ( MAP ) . The first F - 5E Tiger II was delivered to the 425th on 6 April 1973 . Although the USAF did not operate any F - 5s at the time , the F - 5E / Fs assigned to the 425th carried USAF serial numbers and were procured through normal aircraft procurement procedures and channels . Carried tail code " LZ " . Training proceeded at Williams throughout the 1970s . The 425th TFTS was reassigned to the 405th Tactical Training Wing as of 29 August 1979 when the 405th was activated at Luke , although the squadron remained at Williams AFB . Pilots from over 20 nations who purchased the Tiger II were trained by the 425th . In the late 1980s , the fleet of the F - 5s was getting rather worn out as a result of sustained exposure to the rigors of air combat maneuvering and training . The problem began with the loss of F - 5F 73 - 0890 based at Williams AFB . It was lost in a training accident in which it broke in half during maneuvering , killing both the student and instructor pilot . An investigation later showed that the most likely cause of the accident was a failure in the upper fuselage longeron , probably a result of fatigue or corrosion . An inspection later showed that about a third of the fleet had cracked or fatigued upper longerons . Although no stateside aircraft were grounded they were restrictions placed on operations in which pilots were warned not to exceed a certain G - load . Some repair kits had to be devised to overcome these problems , and the estimated cost of repair of the entire fleet was beginning to exceed a billion dollars . In addition , the appearance of a new generation of Soviet fighters made it apparent that that F - 5Es could no longer perform adequately against Warsaw Pact threats . In June 1989 , the squadron ' s F - 5 training program terminated after having produced 1 , 499 graduates , and the 425th was inactivated 1 September 1989 . Modern era . On 30 December 1992 , the 425th was reactivated at Luke AFB under the designation 425th Fighter Squadron “ Black Widows . ” The new mission of the 425th was providing advanced weapons and tactics continuation for Republic of Singapore Air Force ' s F - 16 pilots and maintenance personnel . Aircraft had already arrived for the squadron in October and shortly after in the new year pilot training began in January 1993 . Although the squadron has an American heritage , it was mix of both USAF and RSAF personnel and equipment . At first the squadron borrowed F - 16A / B block 15s from the USAF in late 1992 . This consisted of seven F - 16As and two F - 16Bs which were all borrowed . Most likely by coincidence , the Republic of Singapore Air Force ended up buying one of these F - 16As years later that had been borrowed by them from the USAF . On 3 June 1998 the RSAF obtained F - 16A # 81 - 0677 as a GF - 16A for ground maintenance / handling and weapons loading training . To complete the squadron , seven F - 16A / Bs were sent from Singapore to join the squadron . In 1995 the squadron leased twelve USAF F - 16C / D block 42s as their nine USAF block 15s were withdrawn from service . The seven F - 16A / Bs owned by the RSAF flew back to Singapore during this time period as well . In the end , the USAF could not honor the lease as they needed the block 42s back . A deal was struck with Lockheed Martin to lease a dozen new - built F - 16C / D block 52 ' s ( 4 F - 16Cs and 8 F - 16Ds ) with options to buy them later . The aircraft were leased for a 2 . 5 year period , for an estimated cost of USD $ 12 . 3 million . This program had no name assigned like the Peace Carvin FMS arrangement . RSAF pilots and maintenance personnel are assigned to the 425th FS for two years . During their tour of duty they receive advanced tactics training , participate in Red Flag , shoot live missiles at Combat Archer and deploy to locations throughout the U . S . to participate in composite operations and dissimilar air combat exercises .