The OA-1K Skyraider II, a militarized version of an Air Tractor plane commonly used in agriculture and firefighting, will be used to conduct multiple roles including armed overwatch, close air support and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations for Air Force special operators. (Jasmyne Bridgers-Matos/U.S. Air Force)
Air Force special operators will be able to quickly break down and reassemble their newest, multi-role aircraft to move from one location to another via large transport aircraft, according to Air Force Special Operations Command.
The capability will allow quick deployment of the OA-1K Skyraider II to support special operators on the ground or gather intelligence in the austere environments the prop-powered, crop duster-style aircraft was designed to navigate, AFSOC officials said.
They made the announcement Tuesday at the annual Special Operations Forces Week conference in Tampa, Fla., this week.
“This capability is right in line with our vision of the versatility the OA-1K and its crews will provide to our teammates,” said Lt. Gen. Mike Conley, AFSOC commander. “The OA-1K offers a unique and modular solution for a wide range of operations, including armed overwatch, at a fraction of a cost of other platforms.”
The ability to easily disassemble and reassemble the aircraft for transportation was one of the factors the service considered in adopting the OA-1K Skyraider II, a single-engine, turboprop aircraft manufactured by L3 Harris and Air Tractor to conduct multiple roles including armed overwatch, close air support and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations, said Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Wilson, who heads AFSOC’s armed overwatch program. The aircraft is a militarized version of an Air Tractor plane commonly used in agriculture and firefighting.
The aircraft was selected in 2020 by AFSOC and the first OA-1K was delivered to the service in 2023. Since then, AFSOC has received 18 Skyraider IIs that have been flying testing and training operations out of Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, in Oklahoma City.
The Air Force intends to buy more than 60 OA-IKs and fly them with units at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.
The new aircraft offer the Air Force a “Swiss Army Knife of airborne capability,” Wilson said. They can be outfitted to perform various missions with a simple change in the packages employable on rails on their wings. Those packages can include advanced camera equipment or machine guns and missiles, he said. They can be changed out quickly with only a few individuals, he said.
And the OA-1K is designed to operate and have its packages changed in the most austere environments, including remote dirt airstrips, Wilson said. When it is deployed to support combat operations, it will help free up more advanced aircraft that cost much more money to operate for use in more contested operations.
Wilson said the Air Force is now testing the ability to disassemble and reassemble the OA-1K and load it into transport jets like the C-17 Globemaster III or the C-5 Galaxy. That gives the AFSOC the ability to quickly move the little planes around the globe without having to fly them to locations, which would take much more time.
It is an entirely new capability for the Air Force, he said. None of the service’s current aircraft can be broken down and transported via jet. Wilson said AFSOC had not yet determined how many Skyraider IIs it could fit inside a C-17 or C-5.
It will take time and testing to establish those capabilities and to determine exactly how quickly the breakdown and setup process will take in a combat-like environment, he said.
AFSOC will start operational testing of the OA-1K in the coming months to nail down those capabilities, Wilson said.
“We’re transitioning the program from what was previously developmental and conceptual to actually getting to the point where … we’ll be looking at operational tests and … large scale exercises,” Wilson said. “It’s really reaching an exciting point in the program where we can actually start to see the benefits and the fruits of the labor up to this point.”
Wilson said it will still be a few years before the Skyraider II is approved for deployment.
He and other AFSOC officials said the new plane will prove to be a better capability in remote environments where small teams of special operators might be working alone on the ground — like in some areas of Africa where they conduct counterterrorism missions.
Special Operations “teams will value the Skyraider II’s ability to operate alongside them in austere environments,” said Conley, the AFSOC commander. “Whether you need an OA-1K to find, fix, target or engage directly, it will adapt to the requirements of the mission at hand.”
