{"id":15300,"date":"2019-02-01T21:55:59","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T21:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/01\/the-us-air-force-wants-to-continue-its-light-attack-experiment-will-industry-buy-in\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:28:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:28:25","slug":"the-us-air-force-wants-to-continue-its-light-attack-experiment-will-industry-buy-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/02\/01\/the-us-air-force-wants-to-continue-its-light-attack-experiment-will-industry-buy-in\/","title":{"rendered":"The US Air Force wants to continue its light-attack experiment. Will industry buy in?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 If the U.S. Air Force<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2018\/12\/18\/start-of-air-forces-light-attack-plane-competition-pushed-back-until-next-year\/\" target=_blank> takes two years to conduct a light-attack experiment<\/a> \u2014 made possible in part by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2018\/08\/06\/the-light-attack-aircraft-competition-will-be-down-to-two-competitors\/\" target=_blank>industry investments <\/a>\u2014 and then abandons it, why should defense contractors buy into the next one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That was the question posed to the Air Force\u2019s top uniformed acquisition official by one attendee of a Feb. 1 event held by the Air Force Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think there\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2018\/06\/28\/light-attack-experiment-flights-suspended-as-air-force-investigates-pilot-death\/\" target=_blank>skepticism out here<\/a>,\u201d said Mike Loh, a retired Air Force four-star general who now runs a consulting firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s got to be a requirement or funding or both at the end of that, otherwise you\u2019ve got guys in industry that are investing a lot of money, and they\u2019re looking back at light-attack aircraft,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat did you do? Nothing. You put it on the back burner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/01\/30\/the-air-forces-light-attack-experiment-could-be-expanded-to-feature-drones-helicopters-and-more-aircraft\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/light-attack_web2-1.jpg-1.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US Air Force\u2019s light-attack experiment could mix in drones and helos<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The service is considering adding drones, helicopters and more sophisticated aircraft to the mix in the future, the service\u2019s top general told Defense News.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Loh\u2019s question highlights the confusion surrounding the Air Force\u2019s path forward on the light-attack experiment, as well as unease about the way the service approaches industry investment in short-term experimentation or development campaigns with no clear contract award at the end of the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Industry investments have already allowed the service to fly the aircraft, set up logistics infrastructure and try new capabilities<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last month, Air Force officials confirmed the service would not put out a final solicitation for the light-attack program. Matt Donovan, its undersecretary, said on Jan. 18 that the service preferred to conduct additional experiments and wanted to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/farnborough\/2018\/07\/19\/could-one-of-these-foreign-aircraft-be-the-air-forces-next-light-attack-plane\/\" target=_blank>broaden the campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/01\/18\/the-air-forces-plans-to-begin-a-light-attack-aircraft-competition-are-now-deferred-indefinitely\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Picture1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US Air Force\u2019s plan to launch light-attack aircraft competition is now deferred indefinitely<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Air Force believes it needs to conduct further experiments, its undersecretary has revealed.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This latest shift follows a failed attempt to acquire a light-attack plane about a decade ago. In 2009, the Air Force began the Light Attack\/Armed Reconnaissance program, and its competitors \u2014 the Textron AT-6 and Sierra Nevada Corp.-Embraer A-29 Super Tucano \u2014 are the same two aircraft involved in the current experimentation campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That program fizzled out due to political reasons around 2013, but the Air Force is still hopeful it can press ahead with its latest light-attack effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI have ideas of how we go forward, and I think we know how we go forward,\u201d Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, the military deputy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, said of the light-attack experiment on Friday. \u201dWe are planning to broaden the experimentation out and carry the experimentation forward, and I think when our budget hits, you\u2019ll understand more of what we\u2019re doing.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"629\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/light-attack_web2.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/light-attack_web2.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/light-attack_web2.jpg.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/light-attack_web2.jpg.jpg?resize=768,403 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/light-attack_web2.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,537 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Sierra Nevada Corp.-Embraer A-29 Super Tucano, left, and Textron AT-6B Wolverine are the likely contenders for the Air Force&#8217;s light-attack aircraft competition. (Ethan Wagner\/U.S. Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bunch said the experiment has helped validate the Air Force\u2019s requirement for a light-attack capability that can counter violent extremist threats in a low-cost manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat I don&#8217;t want to do is end up in a position that I\u2019ve got F-35s chasing small buses or mopeds or whatever else we may be trying to chase,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when it came down to it, Air Force officials looked at the new National Defense Strategy \u2014 which prioritizes a high-end fight \u2014 and decided against making a large-scale buy of light-attack planes in the upcoming budget, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon\u2019s annual report by the director of operational test and evaluation, released Thursday, shed some light on what may have been the Air Force\u2019s initial plans for the light-attack program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The service would have purchased 359 aircraft for eight operational squadrons and three training units, with a contract for either the AT-6 or A-29 to be awarded before September, the report said. The Air Force also considered getting a waiver so that it conduct component-level, live-fire tests for both aircraft before making a final downselect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An Air Force spokeswoman confirmed to Defense News that the timeline and procurement quantities noted in the DOT&amp;E report are no longer accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Expanding the experiment<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What becomes of the light-attack experiment remains unknown \u2014 Air Force officials haven\u2019t made it clear what the service wants to see in future stages of the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein stressed the importance of getting buy-in from international militaries during a Jan. 26 interview with Defense News. He also said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/newsletters\/2019\/01\/30\/the-air-forces-light-attack-experiment-could-be-expanded-to-feature-drones-helicopters-and-more-aircraft\/\" target=_blank>aircraft like helicopters and drones could be considered<\/a> in addition to the turboprop planes that dominated the first phases of the experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Friday, Bunch said the service could look at \u201ctechnologies we may be able to put on platforms or solutions that we may not have thought of\u201d during the first phase of the experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI know many people have talked about specific platforms. What I want to talk about [is] not necessarily that,\u201d he said. That may point to a systems-of-systems approach similar to what the Air Force is seeking with its Advanced Battle Management System \u2014 a replacement for its JSTARS ground surveillance planes that will be comprised of a network of existing and new sensors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the Air Force will need to be clear with industry about what it wants, said Andrew Hunter, head of the defense-industrial initiatives group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, \u201cif the answer is that they need to do some kind of dramatic cost-cutting initiative, give them a number,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It might also benefit the Air Force to incorporate prototypes in the large-scale international exercises it regularly holds with partners, which has the added benefit of giving foreign militaries more exposure to technology that the U.S. might buy, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think people will stick with it for a while because there\u2019s still a belief that the Air Force will invest and, more important, that there is still a broad international market for this capability,\u201d Hunter said of the light-attack experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, he added, the uncertainty regarding the future of the effort illustrates the constraints of rapid prototyping and experimentation: There\u2019s no promise of a program of record at the end of the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[While] there is some value of exercising the muscle \u2026 not every one of these is going to lead to a production program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/05\/18\/light-attack-aircraft-why-stop-there\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4095422.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Warthog replacement anyone? Former Air Force officers say to think beyond light attack aircraft<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">An attack aircraft revival may be coming soon to the Air Force.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After two years of experimentation, the Air Force still doesn\u2019t have an answer for how it should fill its light-attack requirement, but Bunch, the acquisition official, was adamant the experiment has had value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I may be the only one that believes it, but I actually believe it has been a success. We tried something we hadn&#8217;t done. We built a partnership with industry. We experimented. We learned a lot, and we got to the point where we weren&#8217;t ready to make a large buy decision at this stage. I still believe that is learning,\u201d Bunch said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd I believe it is something we will take the lessons learned and roll it into how we go forward,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and say: \u2018Was that good or was it bad, and how do we do it better?\u2019 We\u2019ve got to do our own image check.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not all big risks come with big rewards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"}}},"categories":[7,160,12,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-15300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-industry","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2LVCLIOBK5DWXP53JKMS5ESPCM","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2019\/02\/01\/the-us-air-force-wants-to-continue-its-light-attack-experiment-will-industry-buy-in\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The US Air Force wants to continue its light-attack experiment. Will industry buy in? - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not all big risks come with big rewards.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The US Air Force wants to continue its light-attack experiment. 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