U.S. Commander Wants New Prop Planes in Iraq
The armed reconnaissance aircraft is part of a bold plan conceived by Col. Gary Crowder, commander of the Middle East-based Combined Air and Space Operations Center,to upgrade the Air Force’s theater control system, which the service uses for air-to-ground integration ...
“What we have found over here is that the structure, which focuses almost exclusively on providing the Army kinetic ... close air support, is being taxed pretty hard because that’s not what [they’re] asking us to give,” he said in an April 1 telephone interview, referring to Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is somethig Murdoc's been advocating for years. Low and slow in environments like Iraq and Afghanistan is what's needed virtually all of the time. I think a window of opportunity exists where the same plane could be developed for the US military and also for sale to Iraq and Afghanistan.
(Because, you know, developing a propeller-driven ground attack aircraft would be a multi-year, multi-billion dollar development project. I mean, it's not like they have any existing designs to use.)
UAVs and helicopters, obviously, have their uses. But a relatively inexpensive, tough-as-nails turboprop-powered light attack aircraft would sure come in handy for all sorts of things.
Does this have a chance of actually happening? Nope. Nada. Never. (In that order.)
A few of the previous MO posts on this subject:
