US Special Operations plans to buy 75 light attack
aircraft for Armed Overwatch
By Garrett Reim5 February 2020
The US Special Operations Command plans on buying 75 fixed-wing
aircraft for its just-announced Armed Overwatch programme.
The aircraft are intended for close air support of special operations
troops, according to a notice announcing an upcoming industry day posted online
3 February.
Source: Embraer
Afghan Sierra
Nevada / Embraer A-29
“Armed Overwatch will provide Special Operations Forces deployable and
sustainable manned aircraft systems fulfilling close air support, precision
strike, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in austere and permissive
environments,” says the notice.
The programme is similar to a faltering light attack experiment within
the US Air Force (USAF), which aims to show light attack aircraft, specifically
the Textron Aviation AT-6 and Sierra Nevada /Embraer A-29, could cheaply boost
the air-to-ground attack capabilities of US allies and foreign partners. To
further that experiment, the service announced in October 2019 that it planned
to give Textron and Sierra Nevada orders for purchase of two to three light
attack aircraft each.
The Armed Overwatch programme is closer to the USAF light attack
experiment’s original goal of providing the US military with a cheaper
alternative for air-to-ground attack missions, compared with expensive-to-fly
fourth and fifth generation fighters such as the Boeing F-15E or Lockheed
Martin F-35.
Air superiority is often the USA’s trump card, especially when
patrolling or fighting on the ground with small numbers of troops. The issue
came to the top of the Pentagon’s priorities after four US soldiers were killed
in an ambush in Niger by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara in 2017,
partly due to lack of air cover.
Turboprop light attack aircraft, such as the AT-7 and A-29, can carry
machine guns, rockets, missiles and precision bombs.
US Special Operations Command plans to host an industry day on 4 March
– 5 March to explain the Armed Overwatch programme to prospective bidders.
Initially, Armed Overwatch would be pursued as a prototype initiative
to demonstrate the concept, says US Special Operations Command.
If the
demonstration phase proves promising enough, US Special Operations Command
plans to award a follow-on contract with a base 5-year ordering period, plus a
2-year option, for 75 aircraft and MRO support.
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