Special ops’ new plane goes from the farm to the front lines

It’s the ultimate in re-purposing.

Pilots with U.S. Special Operations Command, used to flying some of the most sophisticated, stealthy, high-tech planes ever built, will soon be going to war in modified, souped-up crop dusters, the Pentagon says.

But instead of spraying fertilizer on a potato patch, the nimble, highly maneuverable aircraft will go after enemy troops on a battlefield or, more likely, terror groups operating in some of the world’s most forbidding combat zones.

In a choice that surprised many, the Pentagon has picked the AT-802U Sky Warden, to be built by Florida-based A3 Harris Technologies and Texas-based Aircraft Tractor Inc., as its main light attack aircraft specifically designed to support special operations forces. The contract, initially $170 million but could reach $3 billion, will provide up to 75 aircraft, along with associated spares and maintenance support as part of Special Operations Command’s Armed Overwatch program, officials said.

Pentagon officials say that — like the workhorse crop duster — the fixed-wing Sky Warden is designed to be versatile, durable and relatively inexpensive. The air frame for the plane, targeted for operations such as monitoring terror groups in rough African terrain, comes from Air Tractor, which traditionally has built airplanes used by farmers and firefighters.

Air Tractor aircraft “were developed precisely to operate in austere environments with limited infrastructure,” Jim Hirsch, president of Air Tractor Inc., said in a statement. 

“This rugged, sustainable platform will operate in permissive environments and austere conditions around the world to safeguard our special operations forces on the ground,” Gen. Richard Clarke, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, said Monday in a statement.

“Armed Overwatch answers a critical need for U.S. Special Operations Command to conduct a wide range of operations globally in support of the national defense strategy.”
 
The Armed Overwatch program is an effort to procure a low-cost, rugged aircraft that can accomplish a variety of missions for the Special Operators, from close air support to surveillance and reconnaissance of the battle zone. The State Department used a previous version of the AT-802 to spray herbicides on illicit drug fields abroad, with most of those planes being given over time to allies.

 It is intended to reduce the need for several single-role aircraft, such as AC-130 gunships or the A-10 Thunderbolt II tank buster, to loiter in a targeted area and perhaps be exposed to hostile fire. Lt. Gen. James Slife, head of Air Force Special Operations Command, said such an “air stack” can cost up to $150,000 an hour.

Using a multi-role aircraft like the Sky Warden can cost less than $10,000 per flight hour, Gen. Slife told an April hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“It is a much more efficient way to do that. Further, it allows us to push those platforms further forward into more austere areas where they can operate co-located with the ground teams that they are partnered with,” Gen. Slife said.

The military has spent well over a decade seeking a small, propeller-driven aircraft that could help troops on the ground by providing close air support. The last plane that at least partially met those requirements was the Douglas A-1 Skyraider, which was in service from 1946 to the early 1980s.

Questions ahead

Not everyone is sold on the choice announced this week by U.S. Special Operations Command.

Bradley Bowman, a former Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot now with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said he’s concerned about the aircraft’s survivability on the battlefield. The A-10 Thunderbolt II, one of the planes it is meant to replace, featured a titanium armor “bathtub” around the cockpit. 

 “This thing will not do well in a non-permissive environment,” said Mr. Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power. “What about the survivability of the pilot?”

He also questioned the carriage capacity of the Sky Warden and its maneuverability if laden with a full complement of armaments and support equipment.

“How does the loitering time and the range of that aircraft change when you load up the weapon systems?” Mr. Bowman asked. “Let’s get Special Operations what they need, but let’s make sure it is the best thing that meets the mission.”

There may well be missions where an Armed Overwatch aircraft like the Sky Warden isn’t up for the task, requiring more firepower than it can provide, Gen. Slife acknowledged.

But “you can outfit the aircraft with a robust suite of sensors that will exceed what is available with most dedicated ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) platforms today, or you can outfit the platform with a robust suite of precision munitions,” Gen. Slife said. 

“The Armed Overwatch platform is not a panacea for every tactical situation that a ground force might find themselves in, but for what we envision…, we think it is a prudent investment,” Gen. Slife said.

The winning companies expect to start turning out the fully-modified Armed Overwatch aircraft in 2023 at the L3Harris modification center in Tulsa, Okla., following the initial production at Air Tractor’s Texas plant located about 100 miles northwest of Fort Worth.