A Beechcraft AT-6 experimental aircraft flies over White Sands Missile Range in July 2017. The AT-6 is one of five prototypes U.S. Special Operations Command has selected to demonstrate for its Armed Overwatch program. Ethan D. Wagner/U.S. Air Force ()
The L-3/AT-802U Sky Warden is one of five prototypes U.S. Special Operations Command has selected to demonstrate for its Armed Overwatch program. They're seeking a low-cost manned aircraft to provide surveillance, close air support and airborne air control functions in austere environments. L3 Harris ()
The Leidos Bronco II is one of five prototypes U.S. Special Operations Command has selected to demonstrate for its armed overwatch aircraft program. SOCOM is seeking a low-cost manned aircraft to provide surveillance, close air support and airborne air control functions in austere environments. Leidos ()
MAG Aerospaces MC-208 Guardian is one of five prototypes SOCOM has selected to demonstrate for its armed overwatch aircraft program. The command is seeking a low-cost manned aircraft to provide surveillance, close air support and airborne air control functions in austere environments. MAG Aerospace ()
The Air Force Special Operations Command C-145A Combat Coyote. A variant of the plane, the C-145B, is one of five prototype aircraft to be tested for U.S. Special Operations Command's Armed Overwatch program. Samuel King Jr./U.S Air Force (Tech. Sgt. Sam King)
The military has awarded $19.2 million to five companies for light attack aircraft prototypes capable of flying special operations surveillance and strike missions from airstrips in remote areas.
A notice on a U.S. government contracting website Friday identified the types selected for the evaluation by U.S. Special Operations Command’s Armed Overwatch program as the Leidos Inc. Bronco II, MAG Aerospace MC-208 Guardian, Textron Aviation Defense AT-6E Wolverine, L3Harris AT-802U Sky Warden and Sierra Nevada Corp. MC-145B Wily Coyote.
Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will host the SOCOM demonstration, which the notice said is expected to be completed next March. If the government deems that a prototype meets their criteria, the manufacturer may be asked to provide a proposal for award of a production contract, the notice said.
Armed Overwatch is SOCOM’s program to field a fleet of up to 75 armed, fixed-wing aircraft that can be readily deployed and maintained in austere environments where the airspace is largely uncontested, such as in Africa, with minimal logistics support. It will need to meet requirements for close air support, reconnaissance and airborne forward air controller missions, the command has said.
In many remote areas where SOCOM is battling extremist groups, “intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance … and close air support assets are stretched thin and come at high cost,” SOCOM boss Gen. Richard D. Clarke told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March.
Armed Overwatch aims to identify a more affordable alternative to the Air Force Special Operations Command’s U-28 Draco fleet, a platform based on the small Pilatus PC-12 passenger and cargo aircraft. It follows a series of failed efforts by various branches of the U.S. military to purchase an off-the-shelf light turboprop aircraft capable of carrying out precision strike and reconnaissance missions.
“At the end of the day, the Armed Overwatch platform will be less expensive to operate [and] more versatile than the U-28,” AFSOC commander Lt. Gen. Jim Slife said in February, Defense News reported.
SOCOM moved forward with the effort early last year, after the Air Force ditched plans to acquire as many as 300 light attack aircraft of its own for counterterrorism missions. Before abandoning those plans for other funding priorities, the service had conducted a three-year experiment and selected Textron’s AT-6 and Sierra Nevada’s A-29 Super Tucano.
SOCOM had sought $101 million to purchase the first five aircraft this year, but in the 2021 defense authorization bill, Congress blocked SOCOM from buying aircraft.
Officials were still able to move forward with the flight demonstrations, and Slife said in February that he remained “cautiously optimistic” it would be able to show Congress the program’s viability and the military’s need for it.
