It’s been a full three decades since the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School got a new aircraft, but that streak came to an end when a trio of A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft flew in from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., to their ...
Sierra Nevada Corp. and Embraer Defense & Security on March 29 unveiled the latest A-29 Super Tucano headed to Air Force Special Operations Command, painted in a unique livery referencing the early lineage of air special operations. The A-29 is painted in the color scheme ...
A U.S. Air Force pilot flying an Afghan Air Force A-29 Super Tucano safely ejected before the aircraft crashed during a July 9 training flight in Afghanistan. U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said the pilot was recovered after the crash. While the cause of the mishap is under ...
The Afghan Air Force has made major strides in its ability to plan and conduct operations, especially on its A-29 Super Tucano fleet, but it is overly reliant on contractor support to keep flying, according to a new Defense Department report on progress in Afghanistan. ...
Multiple companies who faced off in the Air Force’s light attack experiment will again compete for a similar contract from U.S. Special Operations Command. Textron Aviation, Air Tractor, and Leidos are offering aircraft for a three-phase armed overwatch competition that ends with live-fly demonstrations in ...
Air Force Special Operations Command is ordering a third A-29 Super Tucano to train foreign troops, aircraft manufacturer Sierra Nevada Corp. said May 11. The A-29 is one of two light attack platforms the Air Force bought for limited use after declining to turn the ...
The Air Force's future close air support portfolio will include seven squadrons of A-10s into the 2040s, along with light attack aircraft in partnership with some countries, but these efforts will be distinct from Special Operations Command's pursuit of an Armed Overwatch aircraft, USAF top ...
The Air Force is moving ahead with contracts for both finalists involved in its exploration of light-attack aircraft, issuing awards to both Textron’s AT-6 and Sierra Nevada Corp.’s A-29 over the past few weeks. Formal funding is the latest step in the Air Force’s light-attack ...
The Pentagon is asking Congress to move $3.8 billion, including nearly $1.5 billion in Air Force funding, from weapons programs to the border wall project. The Feb. 13 reprogramming request would shift $2.2 billion from already appropriated base budget funds for fiscal 2020 plus another ...
US Special Operations Command is moving forward with its armed overwatch plan, independent of the Air Force’s light attack experiment, inviting industry for a briefing in March on a proposal to buy an estimated 75 aircraft. The aircraft would “provide Special Operations Forces deployable and ...
When the Air Force Research Laboratory’s experimentation office was chartered in 2016, the idea of ‘try before you buy’ hadn’t picked up much speed. Nearly four years later, the office is using momentum and top cover from leadership to institutionalize experiments as regular practice in ...
Congressional authorizers are urging the Air Force to find common ground between its regular and special-operations forces as the service experiments with light attack aircraft.