JFCOM Likes Navy IW Plane - Greg Grant, Defense Tech.
The quest for a low-cost, low-tech, irregular warfare aircraft to provide ground pounders with long loitering, on-call recon and strike got a big boost recently when Joint Forces Command’s Gen. James Mattis threw his support behind the Navy and Air Force “Imminent Fury” effort.
Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that he was taking a personal interest in the classified project, being run chiefly out of the Navy’s Irregular Warfare Office, that is looking at small turboprop aircraft for ground support. The sought after design falls somewhere between the Vietnam era OV-10 Bronco and A-1 Skyraider. It must stay aloft for a long time for surveillance needs but also have the punch to provide precise fire support when needed; a true “over the shoulder” aircraft for small ground units doing distributed operations in remote locations.
Mattis thinks using top-line fighter jets for close air support to troops patrolling rural villages in Afghanistan is overkill. As he diplomatically puts it: “Today’s approach of loitering multi-million dollar aircraft and using a system of systems procedure for the approval and employment of airpower is not the most effective use of aviation fires in this irregular fight,” he told the SASC...
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Comments (1)
Time to drag out the quadruple 12.7 × 108mm 14.5 × 114mm heavy machine gun mounts Abdul. Those cheap manportable SAMs available from China, via our friends in Iran, will help too.
The reason that these lightweight type strike aircraft went out of service is mentioned in the first paragraph. And forget the Tucano type aircraft as they are not big enough, nor have the armour plate, redundant systems, targetting equipment, or good dirt strip undercarriage required. The big air cooled indestructable radial is the best type engine for propellor driven CAIRS aircraft such as the magnificent A-1 Skyraider. Unfortunately it uses AVGAS, which would make it unique for refuelling and becomes a logistics nightmare.
One issue that will raise its ugly head is the space and weight needed for the avionics, comms, self-defence and targetting fit out and you need electrical power and space to cool it all. A bare minumum would be a secure radio fit, a turret mounted FLIR/CCD/Laser targetting pack, MIL-STD databus, GPS based inertial nav/attack system, chaff/flare dispenser and extra cooling along with the armour you quickly bulk out the Super Tucanos of the world. I haven't even included the weapons fit or upgraded undercarriage.
Taking advantage of two crew, COTS and in-service equipment solution, the answer is an OV-10D plus. An upgraded OV-10D Bronco along the avionics fit above would fit the bill nicely, armed with same type of mini-PGMs as used on the Predator and Reaper UAVs. Stand off and survive is the key in anything but a permissive threat environment but modern lightweight armour would assist. Its 20mm three-barrel gatling should suppress and knock out any light target it would be likely to come across.
Posted by GI Zhou | March 23, 2010 11:15 AM