Although there are questions, USAF Sky Wardens will fly
A five minute read how US Special Operations Command (US SOCOM) and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) are coping with critics about their new armed overwatch plane.
Despite critics, the first syllabus flying with USAF's Sky Warden has started at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, situated near Oklahoma City (OK). The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report on the Armed Overwatch Programme as they identified issues to support decision-makers in Congress and the US Department of Defense (DoD) by providing an analysis of needs.
While the GAO and critics have started to question the purchase of the OA-1K aircraft, US SOCOM and AFSOC still want 75 light attack aircraft despite Congress’ doubts. AFSOC originally aimed for 75 planes by 2029, but during March 2024 they reduced that request to 62 after congressional scrutiny. AFSOC still believes that the OA-1K Sky Warden (company designation AT-802U) will provide a cost-effective Close Air Support (CAS) and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform. AFSOC continue to propagate this.
GAO issued two reports on the Department of Defense's (DOD) Armed Overwatch Programme. In the first report they found that SOCOM and AFSOC were limited in its ability to justify the acquisition of the Armed Overwatch aircraft for three reasons. Firstly, the size of the future Sky Warden fleet was already decided before conducting the required analyses. Secondly, it was not assessed how changes in the Sky Warden's capabilities could affect the number needed for operations. And thirdly, the needs were not re-evaluated despite changes to operational missions. The second report, which is classified, GAO's findings highlighted concerns related to risks associated with the capabilities of the Armed Overwatch aircraft, concepts surrounding the types of operations the aircraft will conduct, deployment and operating challenges, and affordability.
Scramble Magazine believes that due to some controversies, the GAO was deliberately ordered to do this to thwart US SOCOM and AFSOC. On 7 February 2020, Scramble Magazine first wrote about US SOCOM purchases Armed Overwatch plane on its own.
Also, Scramble assesses that although the world, (future) adversaries and operational missions are changing, there is still a need for a cost-effective multifunctional aircraft that can perform Close Air Support (CAS), Armed Reconnaissance, Strike Coordination And Reconnaissance (SCAR), and Forward Air Control-Airborne (FAC-A) missions in semi-permissive environments. With the current divestment of Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt IIs and US Marines AV-8B Harrier IIs, the OA-1K will probably be just arriving in time!
At this moment, pilots and technicians are now familiarising themselves with the 137th Special Operations Wing at Will Rogers with a pair of standard issue L3Harris Air Tractor 802Us 22-0006 (N8005T, c/n 802-4036) and 22-0007 (N8035H, c/n 802-4037). AFSOC has confirmed that those aircraft have none of the modifications L3Harris will install on (future) Air Force planes.
On 20 May 2021, Scramble Magazine wrote about the bickering buying new Armed Overwatch planes and on 8 August 2022 about the announcement that the US DoD selected L3Harris Technologies and Air Tractor Inc.’s AT-802U Sky Warden system for its Armed Overwatch Programme.
Credit photos: USAF