Budget documents indicate U.S. Special Operations Command is cutting back on its plans for Armed Overwatch, the rugged, lightweight, fixed-wing aircraft to support counterterrorism efforts in permissive airspace. According to SOCOM’s 2025 budget request released earlier this month, the combatant command is trimming its planned ...
The Air Force officially unveiled plans Aug. 2 for its 492nd Power Projection Wing that will replace the A-10 mission at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. The new Air Force Special Operations Command wing will consist of units relocated from around the country, all under the ...
Sky Warden, the modified crop-duster U.S. Special Operations Command picked as the winner of its Armed Overwatch competition, has entered low-rate initial production, and the first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in October, a SOCOM spokesman told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The combatant command ...
Just over two years ago, the Air Force announced it was buying limited quantities of Textron’s AT-6s and Sierra Nevada Corp.’s A-29s. Now, the service is seemingly set to get rid of the aircraft, most likely in the form of a foreign military sale. Should ...
U.S. Special Operations Command has awarded a contract for its Armed Overwatch program, selecting L3 Harris Technologies’ AT-802U Sky Warden as the winner of its competition for a low-cost aircraft to fly surveillance and strikes in austere locations. The deal could be worth up to ...
A contract award for U.S. Special Operations Command’s Armed Overwatch program is likely coming before the end of the summer, the head of Air Force Special Operations Command told Congress. Lt. Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife also countered opposition to the platform, saying it will ...
U.S. Special Operations Command expects a future armed overwatch fleet to quickly reach full utilization, including one squadron deployed at all times, to meet a growing global need for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. SOCOM wants to buy 75 of the aircraft, and Air Force Special ...
U.S. Special Operations Command has awarded a total of $19.2 million to five companies for prototype demonstrations as part of the Armed Overwatch effort to buy a low-cost aircraft to fly surveillance and strikes in austere locations. The aircraft selected to proceed are: Leidos Inc.’s ...
The need to prepare for great power competition means Air Force Special Operations Command is at a historic “inflection point” akin to transformations following the failed 1980 hostage rescue in Iran and four counter-terrorism operations after 9/11. “The rise of belligerent peers and near-peers who ...
U.S. special operations forces need a new armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft to fully support all its missions, Army Gen. Richard D. Clarke, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on May 25. “In many remote areas, intelligence, surveillance, ...
Unmanned aerial vehicles are fair game for U.S. Special Operations Command’s armed overwatch platform competition, Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife told reporters on Feb. 25. However, the MQ-9 Reaper drone might not be up to the challenge in ...
Air Force Special Operations Command expects to conduct an armed overwatch flying demonstration “in the coming months” and U.S. Special Operations Command may make a procurement decision as early as 2022, AFSOC boss Lt. Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife said Feb. 16. “I think we ...