Light Attack Armed Reconnaissance

Written by Steve Goodman

SOTECH 2010 Volume: 8 Issue: 2 (March)

All the armed services have had to rethink and retool assets in light of asymmetrical conflicts, or irregular warfare (IW). For example, in the Navy, that has meant the increased use of Fast Boats and riverine attack craft. In the air, during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, air operations have seen the incalculable value of unmanned aerial vehicles that can now offer surveillance as well as strike capabilities.

The air force is currently looking at another asset that should prove valuable in IW situations that require more punch than a UAV, but are not appropriate for large manned fighters. These planes are designated as light attack armed reconnaissance (LAAR) and they are creating quite a buzz.

Recently the Air Force put out a capability request for information (CRFI) through its Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) based at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The purpose of the CRFI was to explore the feasibility and possible purchase of 100 LAARs, with delivery to begin by 2012 and a full squadron in the air by 2013.

According to the CRFI, the USAF is “conducting a market research assessment of fixed wing platforms available for conducting strike, armed reconnaissance and advanced aircraft training in support of irregular warfare operations.” LAAR needs to be able to fill more than an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) role. They will need to be designed to acquire and fully engage targets as well.

The solicitation for feasibility calls for a two-seat turboprop that can fly as high as 30,000 feet, has full motion video cameras, and a data link that will interface with all existing ISR infrastructure. The airplane needs to be able to conduct precision aerial gunnery and combat maneuvers, and be equipped with two 500 pound bombs, 2.75-inch rockets and rail-launched munitions in addition to its guns. The LAAR also must possess an infrared suppressor and other countermeasures such as a radar-warning receiver, and the cockpit must be armored. The plane should also be equipped with zero-altitude/zero-airspeed ejection seats as well.

Among the front runners expected to meet these requirements are the Hawker Beechcraft AT-6B Texan II, the Air Tractor AT-802U, Embraer’s EMB-314 Super Tucano, and the Pilatus PC-9 Trainer.

“The Super Tucano complies with most of the LAAR requirements, since it was developed from the ground to perform both training and light attack/COIN, close air support, border surveillance and armed ISR missions, as well as training missions and has been performing those missions very successfully,” said Acir Luiz de Almeida Padilha Jr., vice president marketing and sales, defense market. “Nevertheless, each client requires some specific customizations, which the Super Tucano can meet because of the flexible avionics architecture and the power, cooling and space available for new systems integration. This growth capacity and flexibility also allows us to integrate new weapons according to specific customer requirements.”

“We can say that our advantage over the competition is that we already have a battle proven product, with demonstrated capabilities flying in five different air forces. We have what the ground forces needs available now,” Padilha continued.

“The Super Tucano is the only operational aircraft that was developed from the ground for this mission,” said Padilha. “It has the highest weapons load in its class—3,400 pounds—and already has more than 40 external load configurations cleared, including dumb and intelligent weapons, 70 mm rockets, cluster bombs and air-to-air missiles. Another important feature is the EO/ IR sensors integrated with the weapons systems, with laser designation capacity. And above all, it’s has been proved in combat.”

The AT-802U is designed to provide inexpensive and prolonged ISR, logistic resupply, and force application capability to ground force commanders. It is based on the armored version of Air Tractor’s 16,000 pound gross weight AT-802 agricultural aircraft that has been supplied to the U.S. Department of State for narcotic crop eradication in the USSOUTHCOM AOR.

“This armored AT-802 serves as a great starting point for the LAAR platform, said Lee Jackson, Air Tractor design engineer. “It is a two seat, dual control aircraft that can serve in a tactical training role as well as an operational role.”

According to the company, the AT-802U is combat ready with a fully integrated MX-15Di sensor turret that is capable of laser target designation, compact multiband data link that can stream real-time imagery and metadata, and an operational dual GAU-19/A .50 caliber gun system with over 2,700 rounds of ammunition. The aircraft has six wing hard points rated at over 600 pounds each and three centerline hard points rated at 1,000 pounds each. With an additional fuel tank, the aircraft has about ten hours of endurance. “We are so excited about the great interest that our aircraft has drawn from not only the special operations community but from partnering nations to the U.S. who are seeking a robust, inexpensive, and capable aircraft to protect and support their national interests,” said Jackson.

The HBC AT-6B is being developed as a joint venture with Lockheed Martin specifically to enter the LAAR competition. In a company press release, Hawker Beechcraft Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture said, “This teaming agreement marks a big step forward in working to meet the Air Force’s emerging irregular warfare needs. By teaming with Lockheed Martin, we will deliver an AT-6 LAAR aircraft that meets the training and light attack capabilities the Air Force needs in one flexible platform. The AT-6 is a low-risk, low-cost solution that complements existing combat aircraft capabilities and will contribute to the Air Force’s building partner capacity initiatives around the world.”

“The Hawker Beechcraft and Lockheed Martin team bring together the best of both worlds: a proven platform and a proven mission system integration capability,” added Marillyn Hewson, president of Lockheed Martin Systems Integration.

Light attack aircraft have the advantage of being able to launch from austere forward positions, and will not require fully paved runways for takeoff or landing. They will be able to remain aloft for several hours, and being armored and equipped with various sophisticated countermeasures, LAARs will be able to survive most threats from ground fire. They can also be specially outfitted for operations in mountainous terrains—all in all, a profile that should make the LAAR fleet, once it is established, particularly appealing to the special ops community.

LAW ENFORCEMENT AND DRUG INTERDICTION

Much like their nautical counterparts’ riverine combat craft and fast boats, light attack aircraft have already proven themselves in law enforcement or drug interdiction operations.

Operating as a division of the U.S. State Department, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs’ Office of Aviation (INL/A) is charged with the mission of cutting off the supply of illicit drugs from foreign sources to the U.S.

Air operations by the bureau include aerial eradication of poppy fields and other drug crops, interdiction of refining laboratories and smuggling activities, and other law enforcement operations. The bureau operates some 340 fixed wing and rotary wing assets, including several that would be designated as light attack aircraft, that have flown successful counternarcotics missions in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Guatemala, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Assets flown by INL/A include Air Tractor’s AT-802, armed and armored crop duster, and they have flown missions in conjunction with Embraer’s Super Tucanos flown by Brazilian and Columbian pilots.

ECONOMIES OF “SCALE”

It is not only tactics that are driving the need for light attack craft. The USAF is interested in combating the threats posed by insurgency and IW, with a solution that can be more cost-effective than a fully equipped jet fighter or a complex UAV system.

DoD has shown increased interest in purchasing these kinds of light attack aircraft, such as the armed crop dusters proved effective in the war on drugs, as commercial off-the-shelf deliverables requiring little or no modification for military operations.

According to Charles Vanderberg, acquisition program manager, light attack aircraft with ASC, “If the USAF decides to pursue an acquisition program, then a materiel development decision (MDD) would determine where in the DoD acquisition process the program would enter, either the engineering and manufacturing development phase if systems development is needed, or the production and deployment phase if a non-development item is suitable for the needed capability. If a MDD for LAAR occurs by September 2010, we would plan for earliest possible delivery by late FY13 or early FY14.”

Besides the current CRFI put out by ASC, the U.S. Navy is already evaluating an up-armed version of the Super Tucano under a classified testing program known as ‘Imminent Fury.’ Imminent Fury is currently testing a single aircraft, but the Navy is seeking a budget of $44 million to expand the program. The Special Operations Command, Air Force, and U.S. Marine Corps are also interested in employing off-the-shelf air assets for lowintensity ISR with fast strike capability, and have expressed interest in the Armed Super Tucanos currently operated by Brazil, Columbia and the Dominican Republic.

The Air National Guard has also announced that it will enter into an evaluation of the Beechcraft AT-6 Texan II later this year. The USAF, while not committing to the purchase of a LAAR fleet yet, is ordering dozens of AT-6s on behalf of the rebuilding Iraqi air force.

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

In many ways, light attack aircraft are a modern day throwback to the powerful turbo prop fighters of yesteryear. Boeing recently confirmed that it is seriously considering reviving the Vietnam- era OV-10 Bronco program as a possible entry into the LAAR CRFI mix. Currently designated OV-10-X, the twinengine plane would maintain much of its 1960s-vintage rugged exterior, but the 21st century version will feature a computerized glass cockpit, ISR sensor arrays and smart bomb-dropping capabilities.

Chuck Burin, one of the founders and the current chairman of the board of the OV-10 Bronco Association (OBA) and who flew the venerable aircraft in Vietnam, thinks revamping the program would be a great idea. “The OV-10 is an aircraft that is ideal for what they need in a low-threat environment,” said Burin. “It is a proven concept.”

In fact, several years ago Burin said that a congressional representative who was trying to find out the status of available old OV-10’s approached him. His answer was—unfortunately—“ not so many.” While the Bronco is a proven platform that could fulfill the LAAR requirements, there are not enough existing airframes to upgrade. So if Boeing pursues this avenue, they will have to rebuild new aircraft. Said Burin, “You’re going to have to build a totally new aircraft, because there are just no old ones available. As far as I know the original tooling is still available—the wings will have to be beefed up to carry more weaponry, as will the engines, but I see no major problems getting the Bronco to meet the mission specs for LAAR.”

Several foreign militaries are still flying the Bronco, and incidentally, INL/A operates original OV-10 Broncos as part of their drug interdiction wing.

The light attack/armed reconnaissance fleet, if finally approved, would join a growing COIN air force within an air force. The USAF has already purchased 37 Hawker Beechcraft MC-12Ws to serve as manned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, filling a role previously served almost exclusively by UAVs—attesting to what special forces have always known: that when it comes to irregular warfare, the man is as important as the machine. ♦

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