u.s air force release new wolverine light attack aircraft the u.s air force has taken
delivery of its first beechcraft at-6e wolverine single-engine turboprop light attack aircraft
the service has said in the past that it could acquire up to three of these aircraft to support a
program called the airborne extensible relay over horizon network or aeronet focused on developing
a low-cost communications and data sharing architecture to help allies and partners work
together better during coalition operations the air force life cycle management center based at
wright-patterson air force base in ohio announced the arrival of the at-6e on february 17 2021
the at6e is a variant of the t6 texan 2 trainer from beechcraft a division of textron configured
for light attack and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance missions the air force as
well as the u.s navy and the u.s army already operate unarmed versions of the texan ii a new
aircraft just entered the at u.s air force fleet a post from aflcmc's official twitter account said
congrats to our fighters and advanced aircraft directorate's light attack aircraft program
office for leading efforts to acquire and field at textron aviation's at6 wolverine making history
in the air capital of the world congratulations to at u.s air force for receiving its first at
beechcraft at-6e wolverine textron's twitter account wrote in response the most immediately
visible difference between the at-6e which beachcraft is marketed in the past as the at-6b
at-6c or simply the at-6 and standard texan 2 trainers or its 6 underwing pylons
these can accommodate various precision guided bombs and missiles
as well as rocket and gun pods among other stores
it has an additional station under the fuselage which is typically occupied
by a sensor turret containing electro optical and infrared cameras
the air force's model reportedly has a westcam
mx15d turret which also includes a laser designator from l3 harris
the at6e that the air force just received also has a prominent circular antenna on top of its nose
typically associated with satellite communication systems the aircraft features an impressive array
of communication capabilities with arc 210 radios vhf uhf aes encryption
satcom iridium cell satellite aeronet full motion rover video slash gps precision approach and more
according to a piece from the aviationist last year that same story said the aircraft had the
same mission computer as the air force's a10cs and hands-on throttle and stick or h-o-t-a-s
controls derived from those on f-16 fighter jets this particular at-6e interestingly has
a green and grey paint job that appears to be at least inspired by a pattern known as european one
many air force aircraft including a-10 ground attack jets wore this
camouflage scheme during the latter stages of the cold war and immediately afterward
the air force announced that air combat command or acc could get as many as three at-6's to
support work on aeronet in 2019 and that the system is the centerpiece of these aircraft
think of the partner nations that wouldn't necessarily be allowed to have type 1 encryption
which is the encryption we have in link 16 and things like that but we still need to build our
coalition then air force brigadier general michael schmidt the program's executive officer for
command control communications intelligence and networks at aflcmc said at a conference in 2019
schmidt has since been promoted to major general what can we offer in a network that is exportable
that meets all the security requirements that can interlink people with each other and with us that
can take advantage of all different communication systems that are out there already now retired air
force general mike holmes then head of acc set at the same event you're offering a network that has
airplanes too that fit in with it and not here's a big airplane now go figure out how you're going
to talk to it and how you're going to use it it's worth noting that this is not the first time the
air force has experimented with an at6 variant the service has tested these aircraft on multiple
occasions as part of various programs stretching back more than a decade now the decision to buy
wolverines for the aeronet tests followed on from an abortive effort that began in 2017 which was
intended to pave the way for the acquisition of hundreds of low-cost light attack aircraft
the goal of that project was to reduce the strain on higher end combat jet fleets and provide more
persistent flexible and cheaper firepower to support operations and permissive environments
you could read more about this entire saga and pass failed air force light attack program
in detail in this past war zone piece the cancellation of the light aircraft laa
program also led into a plan to get up to three embraer a29 super tucanos via the
us-based sierra nevada corporation for air force special operations command or afsoc
afsac would then use the single-engine turboprop light attack aircraft to help combat aviation
advisors who are themselves tasked with training and advising foreign air forces a number of
american allies and partners already operate or are planning to operate both the a-29 and the at-6
it's unclear whether afsock is still pursuing that acquisition effort or not that command
has also been trying to acquire new light attack isr aircraft that it could use to support lower
end counter terrorism and similar operations as part of a program called armed overwatch
last year congress blocked its request for funds to begin buying planes to meet those
requirements in the 2021 fiscal year however afsoc commander air force lieutenant general james sliff
said just recently that he is optimistic that legislators can be convinced to allocate money for
this project in the next fiscal cycle however it now seems that after completing the airworthiness
certification textron aviation defense will train multiple usoff instructor pilots from
the 81st fighter squadron in preparation for the continued light attack experiment which will take
place between january and may 2022 the clae is intended to explore cost-effective solutions to
countering violent extremist organizations or cvo by co-developing and implementing tactics
techniques and procedures with partner nations utilizing a light attack aircraft although the u.s
air force once said that it wanted to be a viable cost-effective capability to counter
the violent extremist threat freeing 4th and 5th generation aircraft to face emerging threats
the prospects of the air force ordering a light attack aircraft for its own use
seem to have receded the u.s air force now appears to view light attack aircraft as
a means of supporting allies and building the capacity of partner nation air forces
rather than as something that it might itself operate thanks for watching and don't forget to
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