The Air Force Finally Has Its First New AT-6E Wolverine Light Attack Aircraft
The Air Force plans to use its small fleet of AT-6Es to help develop a low-cost network for allies and partners, not fly combat missions.
The Air Force plans to use its small fleet of AT-6Es to help develop a low-cost network for allies and partners, not fly combat missions.
The service will now partner with the Marines, too, but has made it clear this is about helping foreign allies, not acquiring planes for its own use.
The service now wants to expand its light attack effort to include platforms it has now, shifting the focus away from the one it desperately needs.
After insisting it needed to gather more information, the service says it might not need to finish the tests following a deadly accident.
The only problem is that they’re trying to wedge themselves into a closed competition that’s looking almost exclusively at turboprops.
Senior officials explain ways they could begin buying the planes before 2020, but still have yet to firm up any actual requirements.
The service claims the project is moving along quickly, but it won’t disclose any details until it releases its fiscal year 2020 budget request.
The service says it somehow still needs more information, despite a decade of studies, evaluations, and other experiments with the concept.