USAF looking for new light attack aircraft: O-AX

[MarkOttawa]

USAF studying O-AX to death--or killing time hoping for Boeing/Saab TX jet trainer in light attack role?

Pentagon budget 2020: US Air Force plans Light Attack Experiment expansion

The US Air Force (USAF) is planning to expand its Light Attack Experiment (LAE) in fiscal year 2020 (FY 2020) to other aircraft classes such as rotary wing, unmanned, or turbojet, but what exactly the experiment will look like is still to be determined.

The USAF is considering expanding its LAE beyond just turboprop aircraft such as Textron Aviation's AT-6 Wolverine.

The service requested USD35 million for LAE in FY 2020, Air Force deputy assistant secretary for Budget Major General John Pletcher told reporters at the Pentagon on 12 March. He said the service will likely continue the effort’s focus on experimentation as it did the previous two years. The USAF in 2018 had planned to procure light attack aircraft but decided against it, Gen Pletcher said.

“We just didn’t feel comfortable that we had the right mix of capabilities that was going to attract the partners and allies that we needed,” Gen Pletcher said. “So we want to look further.”
https://www.janes.com/article/87172/pentagon-budget-2020-us-air-force-plans-light-attack-experiment-expansion

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

But...who knows what real USAF intentions are--note USMC and allies--hoping to spread costs around:

Air Force to Procure 'Small Number' of Light Attack Aircraft

The U.S. Air Force intends to buy a small fleet of turboprop aircraft as part of its light attack effort, putting some at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and some with Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Florida, the service's top general said Wednesday.

"What you'll see in this [2020] budget [request] is money we are going to use to procure a small number of aircraft," Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told members of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee.

The Air Force will begin by purchasing up to three each of Textron Aviation's AT-6 Wolverine and Sierra Nevada/Embraer's A-29 Super Tucano.

"We're going to place a detachment with those at Nellis Air Force Base … where we do conventional training, and a detachment with those that do special operations at Hurlburt," Goldfein said.

He added that the Marine Corps is joining the light attack effort, and "we're going to invite allies and partners" into the program to expand and experiment in order to build an "interoperable network [emphasis added]."

Goldfein said procurement funds for the full program will be laid out in the 2022 to 2024 budget cycles.

His announcement comes a day after the Air Force asked for an additional $35 million for light attack aircraft in its 2020 budget request, though it is not yet a Defense Department program of record [emphasis added]...
https://www.military.com/dodbuzz/2019/03/13/air-force-procure-small-number-light-attack-aircraft.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[daftandbarmy]

Maybe they should just dust off a few dozen Skyraiders, which they likely already have in mothballs somewhere:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-1_Skyraider

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tagcgGVNKZo

 

[MarkOttawa]

daftandbarmy:

Indeed, earlier tweet of mine (just need today's good turboprops, earlier Douglas Skyshark didn't work https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=1578):
https://twitter.com/Mark3Ds/status/951879309966311424

Mark Collins
‏ @Mark3Ds
Replying to @TotherChris

@SciteCito I'm a Douglas #Skyraider man myself, great plane--#USAF #OAX? http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/attractions/aircraft-exhibits/item/?item=a-1h_skyraider  2) http://www.historynet.com/able-dog-was-the-ad-skyraider-the-best-attack-bomber-ever-built.htm #USAF #VietnamWar #CAS

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Because of USAF waffling, US lawmaker threatens to move the USAF light attack program over to the Army.

  US Lawmaker Threatens to Give the Next Attack Plane to the Army

By Marcus Weisgerber Global Business Editor Read bio

September 11, 2019

Tired of USAF slow-rolling, Rep. Michael Waltz has already spearheaded legislation allowing SOCOM to seek light attack aircraft.

Frustrated by the U.S. Air Force’s slow fielding of propeller-driven attack planes to support ground troops, one lawmaker raised the possibility of putting the project under Army control.

“My frustration is almost palpable at why it is taking so long to get this platform out to where the warfighters need it,” Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., said Wednesday at a Mitchell Institute event. 

The House has already given U.S. Special Operations Command the authority — if not yet the appropriations — to buy such planes. But Waltz said the need is so great that perhaps the Army should also be given such authority.

Over the past 12 years, the Air Force has waffled about whether it wants propeller-driven planes. Advocates have long argued that they are far cheaper to buy and operate than gas-guzzling combat jets, yet can carry the same types of smart bombs, missiles, and rockets. Opponents say they are too easy to shoot down, particularly by sophisticated adversaries.

But Waltz said battles against extremists are not going away.

“Whether it’s Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South America, we are going to be engaged with our local partners on the ground in low-intensity conflict, I think, for the foreseeable future,” he said. “We are in a generational war against extremism. To that end, we can’t shift too far away from our counterterrorism mission toward near-peer competition.”

Waltz, a former Green Beret, believes it’s time to jumpstart acquisition of light attack aircraft. Frustrated with the Air Force’s waffling, he co-sponsored the legislation that would allow USSOCOM to ask Congress for money to buy the planes. That legislation is part of the House’s version of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which will eventually need to be reconciled with the Senate’s own version.

In the meantime, Waltz is trying to signal to the Air Force just how serious he is.

“If we can’t move this program forward, then perhaps we need to explore if the Army needs that authority,” he said.

Right now, the Air Force is planning to buy two types of light attack planes: the A-29 Super Tucano, made by Embraer and built in the United States by Sierra Nevada Corp., and the AT-6 Wolverine, made by Textron’s Beechcraft. The plan is to buy at least six aircraft, and base them at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and at Hurlburt Field in Florida. The planes at Nellis would be used for training while the ones at Hurlburt would be used in combat air advisor missions.

Asked when these planes might arrive at the bases, Air Force spokesman Capt. Cara Bousie said she had no date.

The U.S. Navy and the Air Force spent the early part of the decade experimenting with the A-29 Super Tucano and Vietnam-era OV-10 Bronco as part of the Imminent Fury and Combat Dragon projects. The planes were used in combat operations in theMiddle East and Africa. More recently, the Air Force has been testing the A-29 and AT-6 in a series of experiments that began in 2017. A naval aviator died during those trials when his A-29 crashed in June 2018.

In July, the Air Force asked lawmakers to shift $156.7 million to the effort. On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations’ defense subcommittee approved $210 million for six light attack planes in its edit of the appropriations bill.

Phillip Clay, a former Navy test pilot who participated in the Imminent Fury and Combat Dragon projects said the military needs “at least a wing” of these types of planes.

“I believe the mission they would conduct would be beyond just special operations missions,” Clay said at the event Wednesday.

It would not be unprecedented for the Air Force turn some planes over to the Army. In 2013, the Air Force gave Army Special Operations Command some relatively new C-27J Spartan cargo planes that it no longer wanted.

    Marcus Weisgerber is the global business editor for Defense One, where he writes about the intersection of business and national security. He has been covering defense and national security issues for more than a decade, previously as Pentagon correspondent for Defense News and chief editor of ... Full bio

Defense One
   

 

[tomahawk6]

The Army will take this opportunity and run with it. USAF was looking at 6 airframes so a buy of that number or an even dozen would be doable. USAF was looking at Nellis AFB to base from but the Army could assign some to AFRICOM and some other hotspots.

 

[Kirkhill]

In 2013, the Air Force gave Army Special Operations Command some relatively new C-27J Spartan cargo planes that it no longer wanted

So the Air Force handed the C27s back to the Army, who originally requested them, after blocking the Army's access to them on the grounds that the Air Force could do the job with their existing fleet.

 

[tomahawk6]

Inter service politics. With a shortage of pilots they decided to give in. The Army is short pilots and those that can be aircraft commanders.

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/08/07/the-pilot-shortage-the-armys-struggle-to-fix-its-aviation-problems/

 

[FJAG]

Inter service politics. With a shortage of pilots they decided to give in. The Army is short pilots and those that can be aircraft commanders.

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/08/07/the-pilot-shortage-the-armys-struggle-to-fix-its-aviation-problems/

It really all goes back to this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_West_Agreement

So the Air Force handed the C27s back to the Army, who originally requested them, after blocking the Army's access to them on the grounds that the Air Force could do the job with their existing fleet.

And this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson-McConnell_agreement_of_1966

:cheers:

 

[MarkOttawa]

O-AX: four only for USAF? US Army still lurking?

Air Force officially buying light attack planes

The U.S. Air Force is officially putting down its money to buy two different models of light attack aircraft.

The service will purchase two to three aircraft each of the Textron Aviation AT-6 and Sierra Nevada Corporation/Embraer Defense & Security A-29 aircraft. The handful of planes will be used to support “allies and partner capacity, capability and interoperability via training and experimentation,” according to an Air Force announcement.

The A-29 Super Tucano contract should be awarded before the end of the year, with the AT-6 Wolverine contract coming in early 2020.

The plan to buy a handful of planes was previewed earlier this year by Air Force officials, but the companies will likely breathe a sigh of relief now that the deal is done. The purchase provides a much-needed show of confidence in the project. The two companies have invested internal funds on the Air Force’s light-attack experiment over the past two years and remain hopeful the service moves forward with a bigger buy of light-attack aircraft in the future.

The missions and basing for the planes will be different.

The AT-6s will go to Air Combat Command at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., for “continued testing and development of operational tactics and standards for exportable, tactical networks that improve interoperability with international partners,” according to the Air Force announcement. The A-29s will go to Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and will be used to “develop an instructor pilot program for the Combat Aviation Advisory mission, to meet increased partner nation requests for light attack assistance,” per the release.

“Our focus is on how a light attack aircraft can help our allies and partners as they confront violent extremism and conduct operations within their borders,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said in the statement. “Continuing this experiment, using the authorities Congress has provided, gives us the opportunity to put a small number of aircraft through the paces and work with partner nations on ways in which smaller, affordable aircraft like these can support their air forces.”

Experiments will continue with a focus on creating a joint architecture and information sharing...
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/10/25/air-force-officially-buying-light-attack-planes/

Almost looks to me as if USAF is stalling in hope whole thing will go away.

Mark
Ottawa

 

[daftandbarmy]

O-AX: four only for USAF? US Army still lurking?

Almost looks to me as if USAF is stalling in hope whole thing will go away.

Mark
Ottawa

And to paraphrase McChrystal.... if we ever understand this paragraph, we will have won the war:

"The AT-6s will go to Air Combat Command at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., for “continued testing and development of operational tactics and standards for exportable, tactical networks that improve interoperability with international partners,” according to the Air Force announcement. The A-29s will go to Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and will be used to “develop an instructor pilot program for the Combat Aviation Advisory mission, to meet increased partner nation requests for light attack assistance,” per the release."

 

[Kirkhill]

And to paraphrase McChrystal.... if we ever understand this paragraph, we will have won the war:

"The AT-6s will go to Air Combat Command at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., for “continued testing and development of operational tactics and standards for exportable, tactical networks that improve interoperability with international partners,” according to the Air Force announcement. The A-29s will go to Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and will be used to “develop an instructor pilot program for the Combat Aviation Advisory mission, to meet increased partner nation requests for light attack assistance,” per the release."

Respectfully D&B - it ain't hard.

The US Air Force has bought a flight of AT-6s and another of A-29s.  These will be used to train the USAF to work with foreign forces and to train foreign forces to work with the USAF. Just like the good old day when the locals got Lee-Enfields and the Brits got FNs.  Or the Indians got Snider-Enfields while the Brits got Maxims.

 

[tomahawk6]

Should have bought more A-10's ot some Frogfoots.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Respectfully D&B - it ain't hard.

The US Air Force has bought a flight of AT-6s and another of A-29s.  These will be used to train the USAF to work with foreign forces and to train foreign forces to work with the USAF. Just like the good old day when the locals got Lee-Enfields and the Brits got FNs.  Or the Indians got Snider-Enfields while the Brits got Maxims.

But it took Canadians to make and issue their own clanger: the Ross Rifle