U.S. special forces to study light-attack aircraft

U.S. Special Operations Command is partnering with the Air Force to study light-attack aircraft, which could include Textron Aviation’s Scorpion jet and Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine.

Last Friday, the Air Force issued a “Presolicitation Notice … to pursue Special Operations Forces (SOF)-peculiar advancements in platform-agnostic Light Attack aircraft technologies relevant to a potential future SOF light attack mission and/or emerging Light Attack platforms.”

The notice, posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website, does not mean the special operations command is seeking to purchase the aircraft. Instead, the notice is “solely for informational, market research and planning purposes only,” it said.

But it could mean a potential, new opportunity for Textron’s two, Wichita-built aircraft should the effort later translate to aircraft orders.

The notice also comes ahead of a Light-Attack Experiment by the Air Force. The “OA-X” experiment comes as the Air Force considers other aircraft to augment its aging fleet of A-10 Warthogs, which provide close-air support to ground forces. Aircraft under evaluation in the Air Force experiment are the Scorpion, AT-6 and Embraer Defense & Security and Sierra Nevada Corp.’s A-29 Super Tucano.

No money has been budgeted for the purchase of light-attack aircraft, but a Senate panel earlier this month earmarked more than $1 billion for the planes in its version of the defense budget.

Friday’s notice emphasized that it was unrelated to the Air Force experiment. “This effort is separate and distinct from the on-going Light Attack Experiment or any other Light Attack projects.

This story was originally published July 31, 2017 at 2:39 PM with the headline "U.S. special forces to study light-attack aircraft."