SOCOM's New Recon Aircraft to Pack Big Punch
4/27/2023
By Jan Tegler
When Special Operations Command selected L3Harris Technologies and Air Tractor Inc.’s AT-802U Sky Warden for its Armed Overwatch program last August, the command didn’t have a formal designation for the rugged, versatile, single-engine airplane now known as the OA-1K.
But they did have a mission in mind.
They wanted one airplane that could “collapse the stack” of aircraft needed to perform irregular warfare missions in remote locales. Able to tackle the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions of the unarmed U-28A Draco and MC-12W Liberty aircraft it will replace, the OA-1K adds strike capability for close air support and precision strike missions with a gunship-like punch.
The contract award to L3Harris for as many as 75 of its modified turboprops could be worth up to $3 billion, according to the command. It’s the culmination of an effort to field light attack/reconnaissance aircraft by the Air Force and Special Operations Forces that dates back to 2009.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2023/4/27/socoms-new-recon-aircraft-to-pack-big-punch
