US Air Force Looking to Increase Light Attack Capabilities

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The United States Air Force is looking to increase its light attack aircraft capabilities by allocating some of the unspent Air Force budget to the light attack aircraft program.

The U.S. Air Force intends to combine more than $156 million from its 2018 and 2019 budgets to continue light attack aircraft experimentation. The Air Force also wants to increase its budget in order to purchase six light attack aircraft to support the experimentation.

The six new aircraft will allow the Air Combat Command to analyze new tactics, techniques, and procedures. 

Last March, General David Goldfein, the United States Air Force Chief of Staff, told lawmakers that the Air Force will purchase a few turboprop aircraft. The intended aircraft to be purchased are Textron Aviation’s AT-6 Wolverine and Sierra Nevada/Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucano. The service will purchase up to three of each aircraft.

The Air Force has also filed a request asking for an additional $35 million in its 2020 budget request for light attack aircraft.

Military.com mentions that the Air Force has held a series of light attack experiments. Light attack aircraft have tested maneuvers at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Back in 2016, the service had announced plans to test several light aircraft in an effort to understand if cheaper, more standard aircraft are suitable for low risk missions.

However the experiment was cut short in its second phase when a fatal crash in the summer of 2018 lead to the cancellation of the experiment. Yet even with the experiment cut short, officials from the Air Force have mentioned that the best fit for light attack aircraft are the AT-6 Wolverine and the A-29 Super Tucano.

The Air Force is awaiting budget approval from Congress. However, the Air Force did not mention exactly how reallocated funds would speed up the program.