Air Force Special Operations Command marked a new chapter with its latest aircraft April 3 when the first Skyraider II fully modified for military use arrived at Hurlburt Field, Fla.
A modified crop duster, the OA-1K will provide airborne eyes, ears, and precision fires to support ground troops in permissive airspace, just as its namesake, the A-1 Skyraider, did in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
AFSOC commander Lt. Gen. Michael Conley said at the welcoming ceremony that the aircraft’s small maintenance footprint and ease of swapping out sensors, weapons, and communications equipment will play a key role in future conflicts.
“Skyraider II represents not just a new platform, but a modular solution to our national security needs,” he said, according to a press release. “It will redefine how we approach joint campaigning, crisis response and the evolving landscape of modern warfare.”
Produced by Air Tractor and modified by L3Harris, the Skyraider II replaces the U-28A Draco, a small intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft that also operated in austere conditions. Officials have spoken of Skyraider II’s ability to “collapse the stack” of up to 20 ISR and armed defense aircraft that are sometimes called in to support special operations missions against violent extremist organizations.
“This aircraft embodies the very essence of our command: it’s agile, it’s adaptable, and it’s always ready to deliver lethality,” Conley said.
The first production aircraft was supposed to be delivered in October 2023. Delays pushed it back so that the first operational aircraft arrived April 3, though an experimental version made a brief appearance at Hurlburt in January, when AFSOC officially dubbed it the Skyraider II.
In the coming months, more Skyraider IIs will converge at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, Okla., as the aircraft’s formal training unit stands up there. Pilots have already been familiarizing themselves with a pair of standard issue Air Tractor AT-802Us, but those aircraft lack the modifications L3Harris is installing on the operational planes.
Demand for special operations aviators has surged since 2019, in some cases exceeding peak levels seen during the Global War on Terror, Conley told the House Armed Services’ Intelligence and Special Operations subcommittee at a hearing in February.
Despite the high demand, U.S. Special Operations Command scaled back its planned buy of OA-1K aircraft from 75 copies down to 62 last March, a 17 percent drop “due to resource constraints,” the command said at the time.
About three months earlier, the Government Accountability Office published a report skeptical about the 75-fleet buy, but a SOCOM official said at the time that the report did not cause the command to trim its desired fleet size.
Attending the ceremony at Hurlburt was retired Lt. Col. Bill Buice, a former A-1 Skyraider pilot who flew in Vietnam, and Phillip Edward Jennings, who rescued him after he was shot down.
“The ingenuity, courage, and discipline of not only you, but your fellow Skyraider pilots, demonstrated why these missions are so critical to our partners on the ground,” said Conley. “It is today’s Air Commandos who are now tasked to carry on that mission.”
