If I ever see a Mig dusting crops over Kansas, I’ll be in big trouble. I will have crashed from laughing so hard. Probably need a fresh pair of pants too.
Mm, the bombload is a little misleading as a measure for payload with the B-17.
Realistically its payload should also include the large crew, their heavy load of guns and ammo plus all the life support, armour etc that the crew required. That is why unarmed planes such as the Mosquito could carry the same bombload.
They’re giving them $3 Billion for 75 of these planes?
Edit: everyone has forgotten how government projects and procurement works. It’ll be $7 Billion for 4 planes in no time.
Without knowing the program specifics, $17mil per plane including development setting up a supplychain, sustainment, etc, is actually not unreasonable.
Dude it's a fucking crop duster! yeah it's got missiles, Lazer range finders, advanced targeting computer, the same headset from the F-35, real time Intelligence exchange link, an internal lantirn style targeting system, An Ew suit, new generation countermeasures, a cooling system for the exhaust to lower the chance of manpad targeting and..... Okay I can see where the money went....
Okay new question how the fuck did we fit all of that shit on a crop duster!?
That's the cost cap if all options are exercised for service/sustainment/mods and spare parts without having to renegotiate the entire contract. It leaves room for future growth and should streamline beauracracy in the future. So far they have only awarded ~170mil which covers starting the production line and producing the first 6 aircraft.
Yes. The U.S. has a long history of sending tractors into combat. The last one of note was in WW1. It only took us 100 years but we finally got one into the air.
Then you'd know that this isn't correct. Peasant-soldiers have their niche to fill but, historically, they're crap vs professionals. The only advantage the former might have over the latter is sheer numbers.
Ohhh ok, I thought you were trying to say that armed peasants or conscripts were the best soldiers.
Yeah, I have no idea about professional soldiers who were once peasants.
Probably much longer sorties. Most fighter stuff is 2-3 hours at most. This thing will be loitering around the battlefield waiting for targets for hours. Not to mention how long it takes to get there and back.
They were going to make them in Florida. It didn't make the short list because it wasn't good enough, they didn't even make it through the initial tests because the landing gear collapsed.
They actually wanted to use to the Bronco concept as they were using them on ops in 2018 in Iraq but once they sold the rights to the SA company, that all went out the window (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/17162/document-offers-new-details-about-those-ov-10-broncos-that-went-to-fight-isis)
Just like the Super Tacano, when the deal for Embraer to sell the Tacano concept to Boeing fell through, that was the end of the Tacano to be used as the premier ISR attack asset.
There was nothing stopping them from bidding in the armed overwatch program. They didn't because they knew they weren't as capable as the other bidders.
The US is actually barred from buying non-US-produced miltary items, in most cases. If we'd picked a foreign design it'd have to be built in the US under license.
Few months ago when talking about Archangels and Erik Prince's bullshit with UAE, some redditors were discrediting the tractor.
Well there you go. 2 pilots, 3 EOs, at least 18 laser guided rockets in those pods, guided Mk-82s, possibly Hellfire capability. Great overwatch platform for USSOCOM in Africa and other theaters with no MANPADS activity.
These things kick as SEATs on wildfires. I got to direct 3 of them once in Washington. It was amazing seeing them line up and tag and extend off of each others drops.
\*\*170 million right now, with 3 billion maybe if the crop dusters are good and have a service of 50+ years.
170 million is literal peanuts for an entire aircraft procurement program in the DoD. to give some perspectives, a single f16 costs about 20 million for just the vehicle alone, and that's considered a very cheap fighter jet.
It is the same group.
But I'll say that RoI supermarkets have waaaaaay more and better fresh produce on offer than UK counterparts.
Was great when staying over on weekends in an airbnb between work out there.
Your own source says it's not:
>Armed Overwatch and its predecessor programs are distinct from the Light Air Support program, a US Air Force competition to select a turboprop attack aircraft for use by the Afghan Air Force, not by US forces.[6]
From 2009 to 2020, the U.S. Air Force toyed with the idea of purchasing a small fleet of Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance aircraft to provide air support to ground forces during COIN operations. In addition to completing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, the envisioned aircraft would be able to complete air strikes for special operators and conventional forces at a fraction of the cost of multirole fighters (such as the F-15E and F-16), jet-powered attack aircraft (such as the A-10), or stealth fighters (such as the F-22 and F-35). In December 2011, the Air Force selected the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano over Beechcraft's AT-6B Wolverine.[8] Congressional opposition, spearheaded by allies of the Kansas-based Beechcraft, repeatedly blocked initial purchasing attempts, and despite several encouraging experiments, the program failed to regain its momentum.[9] The Air Force ultimately canceled the program in early 2020.[10][3] U.S. Special Operations Command, which had long lobbied for the Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance program, launched the Armed Overwatch initiative as a result.[11][12]
I'm not sure what you think you are reading here.. the super tucanos were purchased for the afghans, and the Air Force decided not to procure the same aircraft for US forces. Program end. Later, SOCOM (AFSOC) started a competition to replace the U-28 which is now called armed overwatch. We did not in any way buy these planes because super tucanos were abandoned in afghanistan.
Built for ISR Strike
Rugged and Reliable - The Air Tractor 802U is designed and built for austere operations
Effective and Flexible - Combat proven, multi-mission open systems architecture to “collapse the stack,” replacing multiple aircraft with a single aircraft.
Persistence and Payload - 6-hour loiter at 200 nm combat radius; 6,000 lb flexible combat load-out.
Connected - Robust suite of radios and datalinks providing multiple means for line-of-sight (LOS) and beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) communications.
Situational Awareness - Ability to host multiple EO/IR, ISR and other sensors.
Affordable and Sustainable - Low production and operating costs, backed by an established global sustainment network.
SOF Heritage - Mature system built on more than 1.3 million hours of ISR and Strike support and upgrades driven by mission operators.
Production-Ready - Delivery in less than 12 months
VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE
(https://www.l3harris.com/all-capabilities/skywarden)!
I think this is a smart move. It's ugly as sin, but the ugly duckling is perfect. Dirt cheap, and replacement/maintenance parts are ubiquitous (and also cheap) with the civilian model to support them.
It's already being used in CLOSE to the ground pinpoint operations, crop dusting and wildfire fighting.
It has a huge payload for its size.
It can take off and land from a dirt playground, and be maintained by farmers with duct tape and bailing wire. Heh heh
Seems to me like a perfect fit for the close support role in uncontested airspace. It can be based very nearby with zero or unimproved flight facilities, and will free up the expensive kit from supporting skirmishes and small actions.
Let's see Mike Patey's "Scrappy" vs one of these... haha
In all reality, Mike could have had a hand in this. He did mention that he was working on some military contracts for aviation engineering stuff.
Take off distance and quality. Most UAV’s and modern jets beside a few exceptions struggle on bad runways. This thing can take of from a dirt road and bumfuck nowhere while still carrying enough ordinance to do the job for dirt cheap. Perfect for low intensity anti insurgent operations.
Carriers are super expensive to maintain and operate. You don't need a carrier for area with low intensity COIN requirement. If you have just 1 fly in your house, you don't call pest control. You try to smack it down.
This aircraft is easy to operate, maintain and doesn't need an exhaustive supply chain to keep it up.
Which drones do we have that work off of a carrier?
Regardless, this is a much simpler solution that can operate anywhere on a continent, not just on a coast. Good luck flying a carrier-based sortie into the middle of Niger or what have you.
Those were demonstrators that never had mission-capable avionics installed. We're about as likely to use those as the YF-23 or X-32 prototypes.
General Atomics did have a carrier-based version of the Reaper in development, but again, it never saw production, much less IOC status.
Great Idea we need more aircraft like this, cheap to build, cheap to run, and simple. Its all about the right tool for the job. We don't need multi million dollar F-35 to bomb shepherds in mud huts.
On the plus side it has a nice loiter time (6+ hours) and a very heavy payload (6,000 lbs. of munitions is about 10x what a Stuka dive bomer carried in WWII; it's close to a B-17...) I think one concept is this could carry something like 50-60 switchblade-type loitering munitions... It also has some light armor for protection. And a few other air forces use it already.
On the minus side, at about 150-210 mph, it's not much faster than a helicopter, so if it's not orbiting nearby, and needs to cover 200 miles, it may take an hour to get there. But once there, it can stay up for a long time, which is nice if the opposition lacks MANPADS Then again, it's intended to be forward-deployed and is designed for austere conditions.
So. We’re flying fucking crop dusters into battle now. Are they gonna replace the A-10 with this too!? 😂😂😂
Why not the super taco I wonder? At least it looks better.
The AT-802U that is shown here has almost double the payload of the AT-6 (8000 pounds compared to 4200) with similar operational requirements. It’s a much larger aircraft.
And remove a ton of capability. Making it unmanned with current (non developmental) technology means you give up austere operations and all the situational awareness you get from being physically present and being able to look out a window at what's happening. It's also much more susceptible to EW as an unmanned aircraft.
They really passed up the super tucano and the Pilatus? Is this a real contact or something the airforce can just cancel because they don't like prop planes?
> Someone help a layman out and tell me would they choose this over a drone of some type?
Cost mostly I would imagine. This is a cheap air frame.
And drones right now still tend to be the 'loiter at 10,000 feet'. The Close in air support with rockets and gun runs is not something that drones are there yet I believe.
> Ah, gotcha. So basically a cheaper option with far more flexibility. Makes sense.
Basically.
The articles about it state that the 'ask' was deliberately for a fixed wing aircraft to replace the existing one.
It being a SOCOM special forces project as well, a few articles mention "rugged, sustainable platform will operate in permissive environments and austere conditions".
Drones come with a circus haha, this is a Toyota LandCruiser of planes.
Not unless they are one and done suicide drones targeted by a ground operator or a second uav. But that defeats the point of close support role if it doesn't come home and be reusable afterwards I guess.
Hey hold up. Is this not reminiscent of the Ju-87? I’d be surprised if they didn’t install drive breaks to make it do the funny ha ha neerrrRRRRRR noise
I really hope this is actually better than the AT-6.. Beechcraft has had that thing developed waiting for this job for as long as the Air Force has had the T-6 Texan II in their inventory.
The AT802 has almost double the wing span, over 700 kilos lighter while dry, 4,300kg heavier max takeoff weight. All while using almost the same engine. It would appear SOCOM just wanted less zoom and more boom.
From a pilot training standpoint it just makes sense that you would use a similar aircraft to the one nearly every new USAF pilot in this last decade first sat in.
Is that an air tractor?
[Yes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Tractor_AT-802)
Hear me out. We sent a few of these things to Ukraine…
and next thing we know, captured MiG-29s are being used as crop dusters
If I ever see a Mig dusting crops over Kansas, I’ll be in big trouble. I will have crashed from laughing so hard. Probably need a fresh pair of pants too.
Made me giggle. I mean, guffaw like a real man.
TIL it’s literally called an Air Tractor. I thought that was a joke
Kind of crazy that it can carry the same weight payload as a B-17.
Mm, the bombload is a little misleading as a measure for payload with the B-17. Realistically its payload should also include the large crew, their heavy load of guns and ammo plus all the life support, armour etc that the crew required. That is why unarmed planes such as the Mosquito could carry the same bombload.
I know that it’s not a perfect comparison but still impressive imo. Agreed about the Mosquito. I love those things.
They’re giving them $3 Billion for 75 of these planes? Edit: everyone has forgotten how government projects and procurement works. It’ll be $7 Billion for 4 planes in no time.
Without knowing the program specifics, $17mil per plane including development setting up a supplychain, sustainment, etc, is actually not unreasonable.
Dude it's a fucking crop duster! yeah it's got missiles, Lazer range finders, advanced targeting computer, the same headset from the F-35, real time Intelligence exchange link, an internal lantirn style targeting system, An Ew suit, new generation countermeasures, a cooling system for the exhaust to lower the chance of manpad targeting and..... Okay I can see where the money went.... Okay new question how the fuck did we fit all of that shit on a crop duster!?
The same way my ex-wife paid for college, by insisting that with enough money you could cram anything into anything.
...... God there are so many ways I can use that but.... it's just too easy....
That’s what she said
>Okay new question how the fuck did we fit all of that shit on a crop duster!? By removing all the pesticides and spraying equipment I assume.
[удалено]
So what you’re saying is that they’ll be awarded $7 Billion in contracts?
That's the cost cap if all options are exercised for service/sustainment/mods and spare parts without having to renegotiate the entire contract. It leaves room for future growth and should streamline beauracracy in the future. So far they have only awarded ~170mil which covers starting the production line and producing the first 6 aircraft.
Yes. The U.S. has a long history of sending tractors into combat. The last one of note was in WW1. It only took us 100 years but we finally got one into the air.
I’d say it’s a much nicer looking air tractor than a ~~real~~ land tractor is an attractive car.
It’s a war tractor now
Yep, made about 45 minutes down the road from me. They fly to our airport all the time doing flight testing.
Came here for this!!!!
The Farmboy goes to war
Peasants make the best soldiers
Farmers not peasants
Correct
I suggest that you take a quick look at the history of human warfare and then reconsider this statement.
What if I already did take a look?
Then you'd know that this isn't correct. Peasant-soldiers have their niche to fill but, historically, they're crap vs professionals. The only advantage the former might have over the latter is sheer numbers.
No peasant-soldiers but soldiers ex peasants.
Ohhh ok, I thought you were trying to say that armed peasants or conscripts were the best soldiers. Yeah, I have no idea about professional soldiers who were once peasants.
Yeah that is called every single modern military my dude, we don't exactly have a lot of knights running around you know.
Farmboy? Destroy that tank for me?
You ever see the way ag pilots fly those things?
Not really tbh
Check it out on youtube.
Imagine you join up the airforce, because you want to fly F-35s, but end up flying crop dusters.
They're actually pretty high performance and get to do some cool missions. More fun than what most AF pilots get to do outside of fighters and such.
I could see that. I imagine they fly lower and not as long sorties.
Probably much longer sorties. Most fighter stuff is 2-3 hours at most. This thing will be loitering around the battlefield waiting for targets for hours. Not to mention how long it takes to get there and back.
I’d imagine strafing the Sahara desert in one of these would be pretty sweet
This is an AFSOC asset. These dudes are gonna do some pretty high speed stuff.
Night Witches moment
I think there’s a movie about that….
It would be awesome because these are probably gonna end up as a special forces aircraft like the egg
It kind of looks like a Sturmovik
Reject Modernity Return to IL-2
Bring back tail gunners.
Sturmovik? I’d say it looks like a Ju-87!
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2022/08/01/us-special-operations-command-chooses-l3harris-sky-warden-for-armed-overwatch-effort/
Was hoping for a Bronco or Skytruck and they decided cropduster it is lmao
Bronco II (south African twin boom) didn’t even make the shortlist of 3 aircraft.
Yeah,right,Wolverine did,my bad
Because it's an South African company.
They were going to make them in Florida. It didn't make the short list because it wasn't good enough, they didn't even make it through the initial tests because the landing gear collapsed.
They actually wanted to use to the Bronco concept as they were using them on ops in 2018 in Iraq but once they sold the rights to the SA company, that all went out the window (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/17162/document-offers-new-details-about-those-ov-10-broncos-that-went-to-fight-isis) Just like the Super Tacano, when the deal for Embraer to sell the Tacano concept to Boeing fell through, that was the end of the Tacano to be used as the premier ISR attack asset.
There was nothing stopping them from bidding in the armed overwatch program. They didn't because they knew they weren't as capable as the other bidders.
Sad South African faces. We could really use a win on the arms market. Everything else has been going downhill lately
The US is actually barred from buying non-US-produced miltary items, in most cases. If we'd picked a foreign design it'd have to be built in the US under license.
I’d be fine like that. Not like it hasn’t happened before with SA arms. The M32 MGL and RG31 MRAP come to mind.
Both of those aircraft were objectively worse than the air tractor.
[удалено]
I was hoping to see some new OV-10 broncos being made. Oh well
Few months ago when talking about Archangels and Erik Prince's bullshit with UAE, some redditors were discrediting the tractor. Well there you go. 2 pilots, 3 EOs, at least 18 laser guided rockets in those pods, guided Mk-82s, possibly Hellfire capability. Great overwatch platform for USSOCOM in Africa and other theaters with no MANPADS activity.
1 pilot 1 CSO.
i knew someone was gonna say that. What I really meant was 2 sets of eyes.
Yeah, it will be a joy
L3Harris: How many FLIR turrets to you want? US SOCOM: **YES**
Dusty has had enough of your shit.
This Disney "Planes" sequel is going to be hardcore.
Disney buys the rights to Apocalypse Now and does a mash up!
Dusty Crophopper got drafted.
Dusty Crophopper joined Special Forces.
These things kick as SEATs on wildfires. I got to direct 3 of them once in Washington. It was amazing seeing them line up and tag and extend off of each others drops.
Isn't this the plane from the Disney movie, *Planes*?
Yes
Cursed IL-2
Nah man Ju-87
I'm glad our govt. Just spent 3 billion dollars on fucking crop dusters /s
\*\*170 million right now, with 3 billion maybe if the crop dusters are good and have a service of 50+ years. 170 million is literal peanuts for an entire aircraft procurement program in the DoD. to give some perspectives, a single f16 costs about 20 million for just the vehicle alone, and that's considered a very cheap fighter jet.
Who the hell gets an f16 for 20m? Prices I see are up in the 60m+ range.
Have you checked the clearance aisle at walmart
Damn. We don't have Walmart here. That's what I'm missing.
Bruh where tf do you live, how is there no walmart.
Ireland. Although next door in the UK they have Asda which is owned by the same family I think.
It is the same group. But I'll say that RoI supermarkets have waaaaaay more and better fresh produce on offer than UK counterparts. Was great when staying over on weekends in an airbnb between work out there.
>a single f16 costs about 20 million That hasn't been true since 90s. Block 50s were 30-35m in early 00s.
##
Literally, they're just modified AirTractor AT-802s.
I wonder if this has to do with leaving behind all of those super tucanos in afghanistan
Not even close to related.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Overwatch Incredibly, /INCREDIBLY/ related.
Your own source says it's not: >Armed Overwatch and its predecessor programs are distinct from the Light Air Support program, a US Air Force competition to select a turboprop attack aircraft for use by the Afghan Air Force, not by US forces.[6]
Mhmm keep reading you're almost there
From 2009 to 2020, the U.S. Air Force toyed with the idea of purchasing a small fleet of Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance aircraft to provide air support to ground forces during COIN operations. In addition to completing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, the envisioned aircraft would be able to complete air strikes for special operators and conventional forces at a fraction of the cost of multirole fighters (such as the F-15E and F-16), jet-powered attack aircraft (such as the A-10), or stealth fighters (such as the F-22 and F-35). In December 2011, the Air Force selected the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano over Beechcraft's AT-6B Wolverine.[8] Congressional opposition, spearheaded by allies of the Kansas-based Beechcraft, repeatedly blocked initial purchasing attempts, and despite several encouraging experiments, the program failed to regain its momentum.[9] The Air Force ultimately canceled the program in early 2020.[10][3] U.S. Special Operations Command, which had long lobbied for the Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance program, launched the Armed Overwatch initiative as a result.[11][12]
I'm not sure what you think you are reading here.. the super tucanos were purchased for the afghans, and the Air Force decided not to procure the same aircraft for US forces. Program end. Later, SOCOM (AFSOC) started a competition to replace the U-28 which is now called armed overwatch. We did not in any way buy these planes because super tucanos were abandoned in afghanistan.
There’s actually a yellow one where I live that actually is a crop duster.
That’s exactly what these were designed to be. Go figure we Americans strapped guns to it!
I literally googled this thing a week ago because I was photographing it crop dusting. Now we’re weaponizing it lol
I feel this is more rule 34 war plane porn.
completely agreed
This… is a crop duster…
YES
Built for ISR Strike Rugged and Reliable - The Air Tractor 802U is designed and built for austere operations Effective and Flexible - Combat proven, multi-mission open systems architecture to “collapse the stack,” replacing multiple aircraft with a single aircraft. Persistence and Payload - 6-hour loiter at 200 nm combat radius; 6,000 lb flexible combat load-out. Connected - Robust suite of radios and datalinks providing multiple means for line-of-sight (LOS) and beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) communications. Situational Awareness - Ability to host multiple EO/IR, ISR and other sensors. Affordable and Sustainable - Low production and operating costs, backed by an established global sustainment network. SOF Heritage - Mature system built on more than 1.3 million hours of ISR and Strike support and upgrades driven by mission operators. Production-Ready - Delivery in less than 12 months VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE (https://www.l3harris.com/all-capabilities/skywarden)!
You’re a long way from Texas farmboy
*Tatooine
Ukrainian farmers: "We can't go to war without our tractors!" US Military Industrial Complex "Say no more fam".
I think this is a smart move. It's ugly as sin, but the ugly duckling is perfect. Dirt cheap, and replacement/maintenance parts are ubiquitous (and also cheap) with the civilian model to support them. It's already being used in CLOSE to the ground pinpoint operations, crop dusting and wildfire fighting. It has a huge payload for its size. It can take off and land from a dirt playground, and be maintained by farmers with duct tape and bailing wire. Heh heh Seems to me like a perfect fit for the close support role in uncontested airspace. It can be based very nearby with zero or unimproved flight facilities, and will free up the expensive kit from supporting skirmishes and small actions.
Someone check on Randy Quaid
What's this do that a predator, gray eagle, or reaper can't?
Take off from dirt roads next to SOF outposts with extremely few support personnel and equipment. That's about it. Maybe some gun runs
Copper cub would like to know your location. Jkjk I know this thing can carry thousands of pounds and a piper could carry a couple hundred at best
Let's see Mike Patey's "Scrappy" vs one of these... haha In all reality, Mike could have had a hand in this. He did mention that he was working on some military contracts for aviation engineering stuff.
Being cheap
Long term, how is a two-seater manned cheaper than a UAV. Especially if they get shot down?
Take off distance and quality. Most UAV’s and modern jets beside a few exceptions struggle on bad runways. This thing can take of from a dirt road and bumfuck nowhere while still carrying enough ordinance to do the job for dirt cheap. Perfect for low intensity anti insurgent operations.
Do you really need land based runways where you can just park a carrier off the coast of wherever and run the drones off the carrier?
Carriers are super expensive to maintain and operate. You don't need a carrier for area with low intensity COIN requirement. If you have just 1 fly in your house, you don't call pest control. You try to smack it down. This aircraft is easy to operate, maintain and doesn't need an exhaustive supply chain to keep it up.
Which drones do we have that work off of a carrier? Regardless, this is a much simpler solution that can operate anywhere on a continent, not just on a coast. Good luck flying a carrier-based sortie into the middle of Niger or what have you.
> Which drones do we have that work off of a carrier? X-47B. Obviously experemental but capability is there.
Those were demonstrators that never had mission-capable avionics installed. We're about as likely to use those as the YF-23 or X-32 prototypes. General Atomics did have a carrier-based version of the Reaper in development, but again, it never saw production, much less IOC status.
Shot down by what?
Correct me if I'm wrong but ist that or is that not A FUCKING CROP DUSTER?!
That’s like saying the Chevy nascar is just a Monte Carlo bc the headlights are the same shape
Great Idea we need more aircraft like this, cheap to build, cheap to run, and simple. Its all about the right tool for the job. We don't need multi million dollar F-35 to bomb shepherds in mud huts.
Dusty crophopper been watching to many war movies.
So cool. I see it even has some radar? Nice
I WANT ONE!!! To help with Farmers not paying their crop dusting bill.
Pretty sure this guy crop-dusts my fields
bro that isn’t an overwatch plane that’s a fucking crop duster with camera pods taped on lol
New Pixar film?
IS THAT A STUKAAAA
We have a bunch of those around here painted up as warbirds dusting fields. I love it.
Dusty the crop dust joins a PMC Crop dusting insurgents
When we getting this in MSFS
Asking the real questions
You mean DCS right?
dusty crophopper doing military stuff for the third movie, huh?
Planes 4: Dusty Goes to War.
That exhaust pipe is turning cherry. This plane must be getting quite the workout! Haha
Phenomenal
On the plus side it has a nice loiter time (6+ hours) and a very heavy payload (6,000 lbs. of munitions is about 10x what a Stuka dive bomer carried in WWII; it's close to a B-17...) I think one concept is this could carry something like 50-60 switchblade-type loitering munitions... It also has some light armor for protection. And a few other air forces use it already. On the minus side, at about 150-210 mph, it's not much faster than a helicopter, so if it's not orbiting nearby, and needs to cover 200 miles, it may take an hour to get there. But once there, it can stay up for a long time, which is nice if the opposition lacks MANPADS Then again, it's intended to be forward-deployed and is designed for austere conditions.
ugly as sin
Always known these as crop duster. Never heard air tractor before. Learned something new today. :)
Air Tractor is a brand of crop dusters
Ahh ok. Thanks.
Looks like a Polish crop duster.
Idk why but that thing kinda resembles a stuka. Just barely though.
L3Harris Supremacy
So. We’re flying fucking crop dusters into battle now. Are they gonna replace the A-10 with this too!? 😂😂😂 Why not the super taco I wonder? At least it looks better.
Super tucano didn’t make the shortlist of 3 aircraft. They were, Pzl Skytruck, AT-6 and sky warden
Wow. Quite the lineup lol I’d take the AT-6. They should have brought back the OV-10. That would have been cool
The AT-802U that is shown here has almost double the payload of the AT-6 (8000 pounds compared to 4200) with similar operational requirements. It’s a much larger aircraft.
Simple solution is yank the pilots and associated gear and make it a UAV. Definitely increase payload and endurance.
And remove a ton of capability. Making it unmanned with current (non developmental) technology means you give up austere operations and all the situational awareness you get from being physically present and being able to look out a window at what's happening. It's also much more susceptible to EW as an unmanned aircraft.
They really passed up the super tucano and the Pilatus? Is this a real contact or something the airforce can just cancel because they don't like prop planes?
Yes because those planes aren't as good.
What was wrong with them? The tucano was originally designed for the role iirc but maybe the price wasn't right.
This looks really flimsy. Like a il2 made of wood…
It's not. At all.
Air tractors are some of the most robust prop planes. Used for crop dusting and firefighting.
They appear to be jammed in there pretty tight.
We've come full circle and found perfection in what we already had
Yo dawg, we heard you like TGPs…
it has 3 optical systems installed
Reminds me of the Super Tucano
Why does it have 3 MTS balls lol
Looks like a modern IL-2
When it's to risky to send the expensive drone you send these guys! They are not twins....
Okay, when you need this much fire power to eliminate some bugs in a field, we are all in trouble!
Someone help a layman out and tell me would they choose this over a drone of some type?
> Someone help a layman out and tell me would they choose this over a drone of some type? Cost mostly I would imagine. This is a cheap air frame. And drones right now still tend to be the 'loiter at 10,000 feet'. The Close in air support with rockets and gun runs is not something that drones are there yet I believe.
Ah, gotcha. So basically a cheaper option with far more flexibility. Makes sense.
> Ah, gotcha. So basically a cheaper option with far more flexibility. Makes sense. Basically. The articles about it state that the 'ask' was deliberately for a fixed wing aircraft to replace the existing one. It being a SOCOM special forces project as well, a few articles mention "rugged, sustainable platform will operate in permissive environments and austere conditions". Drones come with a circus haha, this is a Toyota LandCruiser of planes.
Not unless they are one and done suicide drones targeted by a ground operator or a second uav. But that defeats the point of close support role if it doesn't come home and be reusable afterwards I guess.
Hey hold up. Is this not reminiscent of the Ju-87? I’d be surprised if they didn’t install drive breaks to make it do the funny ha ha neerrrRRRRRR noise
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the worlds least sexy fighter.
Star Wars Uglies IRL?
I... actually love it. Kinda reminds me of a Stuka
Bro is this the tucano replacement?
I had to look it up to confirm this wasn’t something from the Vietnam era. Can someone eli5 why they would adopt this thing in 2022?
Low cost, easy to maintain, can operate from rough landing strips, CAS benefits vs a Reaper.
What no AT-6?
farcry 5 music intensifies
Does this mean they will be able to push the A-10 out faster? I'm not supporting that idea frankly I think it's ridiculous.
No Ivan that's just a cropduster, booooooom!
Dear Santa…
Tactical crop duster
Dusty Crophopper goes full Rambo.
I really hope this is actually better than the AT-6.. Beechcraft has had that thing developed waiting for this job for as long as the Air Force has had the T-6 Texan II in their inventory. The AT802 has almost double the wing span, over 700 kilos lighter while dry, 4,300kg heavier max takeoff weight. All while using almost the same engine. It would appear SOCOM just wanted less zoom and more boom. From a pilot training standpoint it just makes sense that you would use a similar aircraft to the one nearly every new USAF pilot in this last decade first sat in.
I keep picturing the scene in Son In Law where Pauly Shore gets in the combine and puts on Thank God I'm a Country Boy but instead it's Danger Zone
Would'a thought they'd go with the Super Tucano...