L3Harris Sky Warden - USSOCOM Armed Overwatch

TomcatViP said:
I think it's an outstanding design but a lot of those ops request something that can transit to the operating area (and back to reload) fast. I am not convinced that SOC got this here.
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It's a crop duster.

That's a large part of their mission profile, because flying empty back to base is time that the plane is not making money!
 
A-10 was often deemed too slow for TiC situations in Afghanistan. F-16 and Mirage were often more suited to support troops daily ops.

Is SOC convinced they can park Airplanes 20/30
Nautical Miles from every mission places?

For example, F-16 cruising at 400+kt with a full load of weapons are less than 15min away from engaging baddies at 100N.M
Turboprop flying at 200+kt with a full load of weapons are 30min away.
That makes them at best 1hr away after Winchester to reload and come back to support troops.
 
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TomcatViP said:
Is SOC convinced they can park Airplanes 20/30 Nautical Miles from every mission places?

For example, F-16 cruising at 400+kt with a full load of weapons are less than 15min away from engaging baddies at 100N.M
Turboprop flying at 200+kt with a full load of weapons are 30min away.
That makes them at best 1hr away after Winchester to reload and come back to support troops.
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Wouldn't surprise me if AFSOC is putting a FARP that close to raid areas. An AT802 can fly off a dirt road just fine, most of the airstrips they use in commercial service are grass or dirt. Have the QRF team help set up the FARP real quick, then load back on their helos once the raid team goes into contact.

How far away was the "oh shit" team for the Bin Laden raid? "The Chinooks kept on standby were on the ground "in a deserted area roughly two-thirds of the way" from Jalalabad to Abbottabad," (wiki) and it's 270km between those two cities. So, the QRF was about 90km/48nmi/56mi away. Another set of reinforcements was just over the border in Afghanistan.
 
TomcatViP said:
A-10 was often deemed too slow for TiC situations in Afghanistan. F-16 and Mirage were often more suited to support troops daily ops.

Is SOC convinced they can park Airplanes 20/30
Nautical Miles from every mission places?

For example, F-16 cruising at 400+kt with a full load of weapons are less than 15min away from engaging baddies at 100N.M
Turboprop flying at 200+kt with a full load of weapons are 30min away.
That makes them at best 1hr away after Winchester to reload and come back to support troops.
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The MO is going to be really different. SOCOM does not want or need on-call cab rank CAS for a whole AOR. Rather they will have a couple of these operating with/for a specific SOF detachment, doing surveillance and observation tasks. Then during an actual raid, you'd have these aircraft flying ahead of the raiding force (probably in helos) to observe the target, launch fires as needed during the op, then cover the extraction/exfil.
 
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Scott Kenny said:
Wouldn't surprise me if AFSOC is putting a FARP that close to raid areas. An AT802 can fly off a dirt road just fine, most of the airstrips they use in commercial service are grass or dirt. Have the QRF team help set up the FARP real quick, then load back on their helos once the raid team goes into contact.

How far away was the "oh shit" team for the Bin Laden raid? "The Chinooks kept on standby were on the ground "in a deserted area roughly two-thirds of the way" from Jalalabad to Abbottabad," (wiki) and it's 270km between those two cities. So, the QRF was about 90km/48nmi/56mi away. Another set of reinforcements was just over the border in Afghanistan.
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And just to finish that thought, a 48nmi away FARP means that the Spad is ~12min out. Maybe half an hour from Winchester overhead to fully reloaded and back overhead.
 
Well if the USAF is going to go this route then purchase the Textron Scorpion which could also be a nice (hopefully low-cost) CAS platform. The USAF wants airframers to explore new options but then the "not invented here" syndrome kicks in.
 
So, the program that was on, off, on, off, is now on? Minds and whoopee juice plus carpet smoking come to mind.......
 
Hydroman said:
Well if the USAF is going to go this route then purchase the Textron Scorpion which could also be a nice (hopefully low-cost) CAS platform. The USAF wants airframers to explore new options but then the "not invented here" syndrome kicks in.
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IIRC, Scorpion was not bid for Armed Overwatch. The requirement was fairly broad but nothing with a jet engine was likely to qualify, given the endurance requirement.
 
It is a handsome little plane but flies lower and slower than even the original A-1. And no ejection seat (maybe not an issue at these speeds. The pilot whose plane takes a hit can simply slide the canopy back, hop out and jump from the wing. He might need a chute that opens on impact though...)
Is there a combat theater anywhere in the world where this thing could put in a day's work in any kind of certainty that it gets the pilot home again?
Seems like this job should be going to drones now. Just my opinion.
 
Titus said:
It is a handsome little plane but flies lower and slower than even the original A-1. And no ejection seat (maybe not an issue at these speeds. The pilot whose plane takes a hit can simply slide the canopy back, hop out and jump from the wing. He might need a chute that opens on impact though...)
Is there a combat theater anywhere in the world where this thing could put in a day's work in any kind of certainty that it gets the pilot home again?
Seems like this job should be going to drones now. Just my opinion.
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I respectfully disagree. Off the top of my head, these sound ideal for Africa. In my opinion, it's going to be very expensive in time/resource to write an algorithm that performs the job better than the real deal. I love this concept for its simplicity, and I think this closes the sensor-shooter chain faster than any other option, the old-fashioned way. It also makes the Overwatch mission more dynamic, open to improvisation, innovation, etc. I think the ability to directly communicate to Overwatch instead of going through SATCOM (or whatever) is of great value in itself.

I'm selling Sky Wardens around the back at a 50% discount, but they have to go *now*. I lost their original packaging. The owner is a friend of mine.
 
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www.twz.com

First OA-1K Skyraider II Handed Over To Air Force Special Operations Command

It took the USAF decades to field a light attack aircraft and many are questioning its relevance in a new age of ‘great power competition.’ It took the USAF decades to field a light attack aircraft and many are questioning its relevance in a new age of ‘great power competition.’
www.twz.com www.twz.com

First Mission-Ready Skyraider II Arrives at Air Force Special Operations Command

Air Force Special Operations Command marked a new chapter when the first Skyraider II fully ready for military use arrived at Hurlburt Field.
www.airandspaceforces.com www.airandspaceforces.com
 
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One of the comments for the article posted above stuck with me, that this is an aircraft in search of a mission. The U.S. already uses drones extensively in Africa and the Middle East for counter-terrorism operations. It would have been very useful to have this in large numbers for use in Afghanistan a decade ago, but that opportunity is gone. I feel that eventually this program will wind down and all the aircraft built will be transferred over to our allies in the region to be used by them.
 
alberchico said:
One of the comments for the article posted above stuck with me, that this is an aircraft in search of a mission. The U.S. already uses drones extensively in Africa and the Middle East for counter-terrorism operations. It would have been very useful to have this in large numbers for use in Afghanistan a decade ago, but that opportunity is gone. I feel that eventually this program will wind down and all the aircraft built will be transferred over to our allies in the region to be used by them.
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Perhaps so, but I'm more impressed by the tech/pods they have developed for this thing, and excited for the emerging future of true plug-and-play. The pod with two sensor turrets is beautiful. I more or less see the Sky Warden as a manned UAV, if that makes sense.
 
VishnuOsiris said:
Perhaps so, but I'm more impressed by the tech/pods they have developed for this thing, and excited for the emerging future of true plug-and-play. The pod with two sensor turrets is beautiful. I more or less see the Sky Warden as a manned UAV, if that makes sense.
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It more or less has the same mission as an MQ-9 Reaper.

With twice the payload, STOL and rough field capabilities, and it looks like every other Air Tractor flying in the world (plausible deniability).
 
Alex Hollings from Sandboxx has put out a short video about the "Skyraider II":


The U.S. Special Operations Command has just taken delivery on their newest attack plane… and it looks like something ripped right out of World War II. So, let’s talk about the old-looking but entirely new OA-1K Skyraider II, and why it’ll soon be prowling the skies over America’s most elite and secretive special operations.
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Why doesn't Boeing just off the old Douglas A-1 Skyraider engineering drawings, digitise them then give them a 21st century update (Things like airframe using modern Al-alloys, composite materials, modern avionics including a glass-cockpit, ejection seats and a turboprop engine) then put that into production.
 
NMaude said:
Why doesn't Boeing just off the old Douglas A-1 Skyraider engineering drawings, digitise them then give them a 21st century update (Things like airframe using modern Al-alloys, composite materials, modern avionics including a glass-cockpit, ejection seats and a turboprop engine) then put that into production.
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First they'd have to find all of the drawings, then import into their current CAD/CATIA/whatever program. Finding the prints would take time. Importing or just flat re-creating them in CAD would take time and money because you can't just give that to a 12yo kid to do. You need a trained CAD draftsman and someone to QA the work.

Then it'd be possible to start updating things.

Starting with the engine, because the hell with dealing with Radial engines anymore! But a big chunk of why the Fuselage is as big as it is was because of the big round engine up front. So if you don't have that huge radial engine, you don't need a fat round fuselage; you can make a slimmer fuselage more like the P-51's.

By the time they were done with all the updating, it'd look awfully close to the big Air Tractor.
 
You need engineers to do this kind of work: beyond just the modeling there is a thousands info that must be retrieved from manufacturing drawings to get a proper results.

Screenshot_20250409_120026.jpg

@NMaude : you probably forgot about the A2D Skyshark

300px-A2D_Skyshark.jpg


Wiki
 
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I know Israel is planning to buy these, but I can't figure out why would they be beneficial over drones.
 
Big_Zukini said:
I know Israel is planning to buy these, but I can't figure out why would they be beneficial over drones.
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No latency and dynamic response. The real-deal Human is right there, with Human situational awareness. It would make those surveillance/strike missions far more lethal, with all of the gear they have packed on her. I had no idea the IDF was going to acquire these. :)
 
VishnuOsiris said:
No latency and dynamic response. The real-deal Human is right there, with Human situational awareness. It would make those surveillance/strike missions far more lethal, with all of the gear they have packed on her. I had no idea the IDF was going to acquire these. :)
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The plan is to fly them over border areas where, incidentally, they're most prone to a surprise AA attack.
 

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