Air Force Eyes Drones For Adversary And Light Attack Roles As It Mulls Buying New F-16s
The future of the U.S. Air Force’s tactical aircraft fleet is under review, with some radical ideas under discussion.
The future of the U.S. Air Force’s tactical aircraft fleet is under review, with some radical ideas under discussion.
The Air Force says that its dramatically curtailed light attack aircraft program may now evolve to include a series of experiments to explore the possibility of using those same planes to perform armed overwatch missions. The issue here is that the service said that its last round of light attack-related testing included evaluating the use of these planes in this exact same role, something that has otherwise been a well-established requirement for this type of platform.
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.
Special operators could take over the project, years after conducting their own light attack tests and evaluations.
Despite public perceptions, the service continues to emphasize that the program is focused on helping foreign air forces.
Unfortunately, under the present plan, it could still take years for the planes to finally arrive.
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.