Asia Minor scheme Camouflage(1971-1982)

Asia Minor scheme Camouflage(1971-1982)

Although the TAC camouflage scheme was considered effective for most regions that the USAF would be expected to operate from, it was clearly not ideal for arid or desert environments such as the Middle East. As a result, a new camouflage was developed which was better optimized for this purpose, the name Asia Minor referring to the likelihood that USAF aircraft would be deployed to Turkey if conflict in the region were to break out. The new scheme had a similar pattern to the previous one, but featured two topside tans and just one green. The lighter tan was FS 20400 Tan Special, a desert yellow that gets considerably yellower over time. The use of semi-gloss paint appears puzzling but it is simply because this color does not exist in the FED-STD palette in any other sheen (what is truly puzzling is that it hasn’t been added since). The darker tan was FS 30140 Brown Special, a medium brown which has a tinge of red that tends to get lost through fading. Two colors from the previous TAC scheme were reused for Asia Minor, this being FS 34079 Forest Green as the third topside color and FS 36622 Camouflage Gray for the underside. Notably, FS 20400 predominates on the upper wing surfaces of larger airframes like the F-4 and F-14, in the latter case, FS 30140 and FS 34079 act more like secondary contrast colors as seen on other camouflage schemes like MERDC (US Army).

In the event, the Asia Minor scheme was not used operationally by the USAF even though diagrams for numerous aircraft (C-47, C-54, C-130, F-5, F-84, F-101, and F-104) were included in T.O. 1-1-4. It is best known for being the scheme applied to F-4s and F-14s exported to the pre-revolution Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAI) as well as C-130s and F-5s exported to various Middle Eastern countries (Iran, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia). The scheme remained in use with the post-revolution Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) until a switch to localized camouflage in the 1990s. Despite its lack of USAF use, the two special tans of the Asia Minor scheme (FS 20400 and FS 30140) would be subsequently seen on helicopter camouflage and aggressor schemes.

The Greek Air Force in 1975 purchased ten Northrop F-5A/B and NF-5A/Β Freedom Fighter aircraft from Iran and later ten more from Jordan. They retained the Asia Minor camouflage.

Paint guide:

• FS 20400: Moderately well represented among the newer brands. Mr Paint (MRP-244) looks too light and pale but Vallejo Model Air (71.348) looks a bit better. This color was in the original AK Real Colors catalog but sadly discontinued in the 2024 reformulation. Note that AK11116 is offered as an equivalent in an AK 3Gen Acrylic Asia Minor set but this is matched by AK themselves to FS 33245 which would be too yellowish.
• FS 30140: Moderately well represented among the newer brands. Mr Paint (MRP-233) appears too red in the bottle and Vallejo Model Air (71.035) too brown. This color was in the original AK Real Colors catalog but sadly discontinued in the 2024 reformulation although it is avialble in the 3Gen Acrylic range (11120). RAL 8025 is considered a close approximation which would make Revell 381 suitable.
• FS 34079: described previously.
• FS 36622: described previously