U.S. Air Force Photo by Ethan D. Wagner
Popular Mechanics: The Air Force Is Sending Its Light Attack Plane Competition to War
Two of the aircraft involved in the service's OA-X light attack plane competition are headed to a war zone.
The U.S. Air Force is sending two of the four aircraft involved in its OA-X light attack aircraft competition to the battlefield. The move, likely unprecedented, will allow the service to evaluate both airplanes in combat missions before a final purchase decision is made.
Aviation Week & Space Technology reports that the Air Force is sending the Embraer/Sierra Nevada A-29 Super Tucano and the Textron AT-6 Wolverine to a yet-to-be-determined war zone. Under a program nicknamed Combat Sent III, the Air Force will stand up an experimental squadron and send two A-29s and two AT-6s, along with seventy pilots and maintainers, to test the aircraft under combat conditions.
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WNU Editor: This is one way to find out how good these planes are .... put them into a war-zone, and see if they can perform as advertised.
