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Stavatti, the mercurial, Minnesota-based aerospace startup, has dusted off its old proposal for a new attack plane to partially replace the U.S. Air Force’s venerable A-10 Warthog.The Machete, which is still just a concept, would come in two variants optimized for close air support — the propeller-driven SM-27 and the jet-propelled SM-28. Stavatti has proposed other variants of the Machete for air-to-air combat and advanced training.The SM-27 and SM-28 are both single-engine, single-seat planes. They’re both armed with the same GAU-8 30-millimeter cannon that the A-10 also carries.In proposing the Machete — actually, re-proposing it — Stavatti is hoping to benefit from the Air Force’s renewed interest in a light attack plane to complement the 1970s-vintage A-10. “Machete is a big project around here,” said Chris Beskar, Stavatti’s CEO.Stavatti last marketed the Machete back in 2009, when the Air Force briefly considered acquiring around 100 light attack planes to replace A-10s on missions where the bigger, twin-engine Warthogs represented expensive overkill — such as striking lightly-armed insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. A turboprop attacker costs around $1,000 per flight hour to operate. An A-10 can cost more than $10,000 per flight hour.
Looks like a brick. I'd feel better with two engines.
