US Air Force test flights focus on off-the-shelf options

U.S. Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a supporter of the experiment, said Wednesday the event is aimed at helping the military procure the tools it needs more quickly, efficiently and affordably.

“Our adversaries are modernizing to deploy future capabilities aimed at eroding the U.S. military advantage – and reversing that trend will require a new, innovative approach to acquisition and procurement,” the Arizona Republican said in a statement.

Air Force officials have said they do not consider the test flights as a competition since the event won’t necessarily result in any decisions about which planes to acquire.

Some have suggested that a new light-attack plane could partly replace the A-10, which had been marked for retirement by the Obama administration. Air Force officials have disputed those claims and the latest defence spending proposals call for keeping the nation’s 283 A-10s flying for the foreseeable future.

Some congressional members have pointed to the acquisition of light-attack planes as a way to lessen the burden on the service’s fighter fleet and reduce operating costs related to the A-10 and other fighters such as the F-16 and the F-15.

The Senate Armed Service Committee earlier this summer added more than $1 billion to the proposed defence budget for the OA-X initiative. If the measure survives negotiations, the Air Force could use the funding to buy a fleet of light-attack and observation aircraft to bolster existing resources.

The testing includes Textron Aviation’s Scorpion jet and its AT-6 Wolverine turboprop and the A-29 Super Tucano, another turboprop manufactured in Florida by Sierra Nevada Corp. and partner Embraer Defence & Security. AirTractor and L3’s AT-802L Longsword also is part of the experiment.

Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

US Air Force test flights focus on off-the-shelf options

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