Or a reasonable facsimile.
The Super Tucano isn't exactly a Spad, but it'll do for now. Of course, Not-Invented-Here Syndrome is alive and well in the Air Force, so they are going to look to convert their trainer into a attack aircraft that is less capable than the Super Tucano.
Love the A-1. I saw one in person the other day at the US Naval Aviation Museum. Huge SOB.
ReplyDeleteThe US military does occasionally go outside their borders when seeking new aircraft. The T-45 Goshawk is a joint build between Boeing and BAE. The USAF and USN T-6 Texan II mentioned in the article is based off the Pilatus PC-9, from Switzerland. They're built here, but are a foreign design.
However, I don't see the T-6 as a COIN aircraft. We operate dozens of them here. They have much higher performance than the T-34C Mentors they're replacing, but sacrifice range and endurance. When you’re looking for a CAS/COIN aircraft, loiter time and weapons payload are paramount. The T-6 is a great airplane, but it has neither of those two things.
I bet the only reason they’re considering it is that there’s already hundreds of the things in the inventory, which cuts down on the number of almighty dollars spent on maintenance and infrastructure.
I wonder… if the USAF starts arming Texan IIs, will it violate Swiss regulations as suggested in this article.
The Air Force was never terribly enthused about the A-10, from what I've heard and read. They don't have anything that's better for close air support, and yet they tried to phase it out several years ago. If it's slow and funny looking, it seems they aren't all that interested in flying it.
ReplyDeleteA10s had to wait a long time to prove they were a Spad replacement. Ask the pilots that fly them and believe in it as a truly scary thing that can inflict both fear and damage.
ReplyDeletethat and after seeing one do an inverted
cuban 8 in a 3000 ft cube of space.. I was truly impressed in the Warthog.
Eck!