Here’s what special operators want from their new light attack plane

[Elderberry]

American Military News  February 22, 2020 Patrick Tucker - Defense One

The Pentagon’s new budget request includes more than a billion dollars for 75 light attack fighter planes, part of a new U.S. Special Operations Command program called Armed Overwatch. What are they looking for? In the words of Lt. Gen. James Slife, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, they need something they don’t have to invent.

“We expect to move quickly through an acquisition program,” said Slife at a Global SOF Foundation event on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The request for proposals, due out in a matter of days, will draw heavily on the Air Force’s recent experiments with light-attack aircraft.

In 2018, the Air Force was testing A-29 Super Tucanos from Sierra Nevada and Embraer and AT-6B Wolverines from Textron Aviation. An A-29 crash that June led them to cancel the rest of the test program, but last October, service officials announced that they would buy two or three of each type of aircraft.

Slife was asked how the light-attack plane he wants differed from the A-29 and AT-6B.  He answered that there was, perhaps, no difference at all.

“Whatever it turns out being is going to be non-developmental,” he said. “We’re looking for something that can be fielded very, very rapidly.”

More: https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/02/heres-what-special-operators-want-from-their-new-light-attack-plane/

[EdinVA]

If the Air Force continues to ignore the fact that there are 5 distinct missions, transportation, strategic bombers, air intercept/defense, close air support and tactical bombing, then the other branches are going to develop their own support and leave the AF behind.  One dump truck cannot do it all well.