Winner
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The USA needs a plane that can provide effective precision close air support and JTAC training, and costs about $1,000 per flight hour to operate – instead of the $15,000+ they’re paying now to use advanced jet fighters at 10% of their capabilities. Countries on the front lines of the war’s battles needed a plane that small or new air forces can field within a reasonable time, and use effectively. If these 2 needs are filled by the same aircraft, everything becomes easier for US allies and commanders. One would think that this would have been obvious around October 2001, but it took until 2008 for this understanding to even gain momentum within the Pentagon. A series of intra-service, political, and legal fights have ensured that these capabilities won’t arrive before 2015 at the earliest, and won’t arrive for the USAF at all.
The USA has now issued 2 contracts related to this need. The first was killed by a lawsuit that the USAF didn’t think they could defend successfully. Since February 2013 they have a contract that they hope will stick. The 3 big questions are simple. Will the past be prologue for the new award? Will there be an Afghan government to begin taking delivery of their 20 planes much beyond 2014? And will another allied government soon need to use this umbrella contract for its own war?
LAR/ LAAS Contenders
Gracie Under Fire: EMB-314/ A-29 Super Tucano
A-29: LAS concept
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The winning Super Tucano/ ALX aircraft is known as the A-29 to Brazil’s FAB, but abroad, it’s the EMB-314 multi-role successor to Embraer’s widely-used EMB-312 Tucano trainer. A-29 is better for marketing a light atack plane, though, and Embraer is trying to shift the designation for the up-engined version using the 1,600hp PT6A-68-3 with FADEC. The Super Tucano offers better flight performance than the EMB 312 Tucano, plus armoring and wing-mounted machine guns, weapons integration with advanced surveillance and targeting pods, precision-guided bombs, and even air-to-air missiles. This makes it an excellent territorial defense and close support plane for low-budget air forces, as well as a surveillance asset with armed attack capability. Brazil uses it this way, for instance, alongside very advanced EMB-145 airborne radar and maritime patrol jets.
The Super Tucano is a large and heavy training platform, as a tradeoff for being built from the ground up as an effective short-field light attack/ patrol/ counter-insurgency aircraft that can operate with little ground support. On the other hand, veteran pilots have praised the quality of its ride, the power of its large control surfaces at load and in crosswinds, and its level of visibility from both seats.
Unlike its fellow contenders, the aircraft carries 2 of FN’s M3P .50 caliber machine guns mounted in the wings, leaving its hardpoints free for other weapons or fuel. Its AN/AAQ-22 Star SAFIRE II surveillance and targeting turret was designed-in from the outset and is mounted under the nose, offering a better field of view and fewer blind spots. Avionics are generally from Elbit Systems, and the plane supports a variety of weapons including gun pods; rocket pods; bombs including Brazilian cluster and incendiary weapons, and various laser-guided bombs; the ability to mount surveillance and targeting pods like RAFAEL and Northrop-Grumman’s popular LITENING; and even an array of short-range air-to-air missile options that reportedly include the AIM-9L Sidewinder, Brazil’s MAA-1, and Israel’s Python 4/5.
It hasn’t fired laser-guided rockets yet, but it has all of the required capabilities. LAS variants will probably add the AGM-114 Hellfire light strike missile, but the Super Tucano is already integrated with the heavier AGM-65 Maverick. Elbit’s DASH helmet-mounted display is reportedly an option, and a partnership with Boeing looks set to add GPS-guided JDAM family and GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs.
Beyond Brazil (99 planes), the Super Tucano already had customers in Colombia (25), Chile (12), the Dominican Republic (8), and Ecuador (18) by the time the LAS RFP was issued in August 2010. Since then, the platform has added the African countries of Angola (6), Burkina Fasso (3), and Mauritania (1-4?); and Indonesia (16). Guatemala (6) is a pending customer.
AT-6: The Kansas Contender
AT-6B, armed
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Beechcraft’s AT-6 is a derivative of its widely-produce T-6 trainer, which equips the US military and serves with a number of other air forces around the world. It’s up-engined with Pratt and Whitney’s 1,600hp PTA?68D engine, and adds Kevlar armoring inserts, CMC Esterline’s mission modified Cockpit 4000, a mission system based on Lockheed Martin’s A-10C upgrades, and L-3 WESCAM’s MX-15Di sensor suite in a mid-plane belly mounting. Thales Visionix’s Scorpion Helmet Mounted Display is reportedly an option as well.
One advantage of the AT-6B is that it can add new capabilities by leveraging outside investments in T-6B Texan and A-10C Thunderbolt operational flight program software updates. It’s also optimized for inexpensive operation, and leverages commonality with American pilot training infrastructure. On the flip side, aspects of its trainer design (narrow landing gear, low runway clearance, rear seat visibility less important, low armoring) are disadvantages in austere counterinsurgency situations. Another disadvantage is the need to mount its surveillance turret farther back in the belly, which creates line of sight blockages from its belly-mounted antenna blade (see photo) and from the AT-6B’s wings when tilted.
The AT-6B light attack/COIN version was actually at Farnborough 2006, back when they were still Raytheon Aircraft. It has been developed in an iterative fashion since then, and has been helped by participating in special forces exercises and working with the US Air National Guard on concept studies and demonstrations. By the end of 2012, weapons integrated and tested on the AT-6 included .50-cal/ 12.7mm gun pods; unguided bombs up to 500 pounds, Paveway-II laser-guided bombs up to 500 pounds; APKWS (BAE/GD), TALON (Raytheon/EAI), and GATR (ATK/Elbit) laser-guided 70mm rockets; and AGM-114P+ Hellfire short-range strike missiles. There has also been talk of adding AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air weapons. Even so, a corporate representative told us that:
“Understand that the airplane is not intended for heavy combat. Its primary role would be counter insurgency and ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, & Reconnaissance) as a node within a network. It could provide data and intelligence calling in whatever assets were appropriate to deal with the situation it was encountering.”
Iraq is the only country to submit an official request to buy the AT-6, but several years later, there’s no AT-6 contract follow-on to its 15-plane T-6B trainer fleet.
AT-802U: A Missed Opportunity?
AT-802U
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Outside the 2 finalists, contenders for various phases of the LAAR/LAS competition have reportedly included Alenia Aermacchi’s M-346 advanced jet trainer (not integrated with weapons), Boeing’s proposed OV-10X revival of the Vietnam-era Bronco FAC/light attack plane (developmental), and even the Pilatus PC-6 Porter/ AU-23A armed short-take-off transport, which was also used in Vietnam.
The most interesting option was the Air Tractor AT-802U. It didn’t make the LAS finals, but it has an awful lot to recommend it to customers like Afghanistan. This single-engine turboprop is powered by the PT6A-67F engine, and adapted from the firm’s popular AT-802A crop duster. That sounds like an odd derivation, but it isn’t. Agricultural planes need good visibility, ruggedness, sure handling, the ability to work from unimproved runways or fields, long operating time, and low maintenance requirements. Every one of those traits translates directly into counter-insurgency requirements. In places like Afghanistan, where the narcotics trade has a large footprint and agriculture is a big part of the economy, crop dusting defended fields and agricultural surveying can are valuable counter-insurgency requirements all by themselves.
The AT-802 is big enough to handle the added payload and cockpit and engine armoring. The AT-802U variant combines an 8,000 pound/ 3,629 kg payload with an impressive 10-hour ISR mission time. Tested armament includes dual .50 cal. GAU-19/A 3-barrel Gatling guns, dual M260 7-tube rocket launchers, and 500 pound unguided Mk-82 bombs on 9 combined wing and fuselage hard points (expandable to 15). Its L3 Wescam MX-15Di sensor turret system is housed in a retractable mount under the nose, and it has mounting provisions for an optional AAR-47/ALE-47 threat warning and decoy-dispensing system. The cockpit is night-vision compatible, and its optional Compact Multi-Channel Data Link (CMDL) system is compatible with ROVER video feeds.
The AT-802U is also configurable for more advanced systems, but that would require more investment by customers like the US Department of State, the United Arab Emirates, or others. It’s combat-proven in Department of State Latin American counter-drug operations, where it has taken over 200 bullet strikes with no loss of life, and racked up a miniscule average of 1.7 maintenance man-hours per flight hour.
Unfortunately, this plane was excluded by several clauses in the original LAS RFP. Its landing gear doesn’t retract, for instance, so clause 3.1.2.4 of the SRD disqualified it. The LAS also had to be “configured to be readily available for use as either a two-seat advanced trainer or a two-seat attack platform with no field level conversion.” That isn’t what the AT-802U does.
What Now for LAS?
AAF C-27A: fail
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The Light Air Support contract is the much-diminished version of programs that have gone by names like OA-X and Light Attack/ Armed Reconnaissance (LAAR). Its devolution is instructive, because all the interests, rivalries, and prejudices that have brought things to this point are still operating. The past could be prologue.
Political/ legal obstruction. The Congressional resistance that stalled past Super Tucano requests from people like Afghan front commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal is still in place, and the legal and political reactions to the USAF’s 2nd award are still pending. What’s certain is that Beechcraft is in serious straits as it emerges from bankruptcy, and Boeing recently closed their Wichita, KS plant. Congressional delegations from smaller states with less diversified economies traditionally fight harder for these kinds of contracts, and this one has overtones of life and death for local industry, despite its small size. Expect a serious fight again.
Military disinterest. The USAF is still focused on big ticket fighters. Its pet plane is now the F-35 fighter instead of the F-22A, and the KC-46A tanker program has joined the F-35 in sucking all of the oxygen from the room. A country that seems disinclined to pursue counterinsurgency wars strengthens those big-ticket interest groups in the USAF, many of whom have been hostile to OA-X and its ilk from the beginning. Despite the operating savings, LAS’ very contract structure and order pattern demonstrates little appetite for domestic use as JTAC training and surveillance aircraft with front-line capability. Even US SOCOM, who has wanted Super Tucanos for a couple of years, is going to have its hands full funding desperately-needed replacement of its C-130 and helicopter fleets.
Nor is there much call for counterinsurgency strikes to kill American civilians – with the admitted exception AECOM’s Col. Benson (ret.), who used to head up the US Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies officer training facility at Fort Leavenworth, KS.
With budget crunches abounding, future funding is not guaranteed. Even present funding could now be jeopardized, by the same Congressional politics that has derailed related efforts before.
Afghan instabilities. Along the way, Afghanistan has devolved, and its air force just retired 20 C-27A transports that the USA spent about $600 million buying and delivering. All parties are keeping omerta on the subject beyond Alenia’s “inability to perform to the contract,” but there are rumors that Afghan corruption was a big factor in the inability to maintain them. The regime’s ability to avoid the C-27A’s fate for its Super Tucanos has to be viewed as questionable, and its mere survival to take full delivery is not a complete certainty.
The key to LAS may turn out to be its ability to recruit other customers. Mexico needs planes like this, and gets a lot of US aid, but it already picked an armed T-6C+. Beechcraft factories in Mexico ensure that they won’t switch. Iraq has a standing AT-6 request they could now switch to the Super Tucano under LAS, but it’s hard to see US funding for that at this point. LAS would still be useful as a pass-through vehicle for an Iraqi purchase, and that might turn out to be important for the program.
Beyond Iraq, Embraer has proven to be perfectly capable of selling the plane itself in Latin America, Africa, and even Asia. US aid to East Africa, Thailand, or the Philippines would seem to be the best near-term bet for LAS beyond Iraq – but no-one can predict the future, and world events could create a demand elsewhere before 2019.
Contracts & Key Events
FY 2014
Getting started.
Sept 25/14: 1st delivery. The 1st A-29 Super Tucano from the LAS contract is rolled out during a ceremony in Jacksonville, FL. Embraer expects to wrap up deliveries by mid-2015. The Brazilian company says it hired 72 employees (complemented by dozens of contractors) at the 40,000-square-foot facility since it opened the facility last year. They plan to keep using the plant for additional Super Tucano sales through FMS, while Embraer is to expand its corporate jet manufacturing capabilities in Melbourne, 175 miles further south in Florida. SNC on the other hand is laying off 90 people in Colorado after its loss in the CCiCap competition.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, it took 6 months of tense negotiations for president-elect Ashraf Ghani and runner up Abdullah Abdullah to come to a power sharing understanding. The Taliban have redoubled their offensive as NATO troops were phasing out their presence, coordinating attacks involving larger numbers of insurgents. Signing security agreements with the US and NATO is a high priority, but whether the West will leave more than a token presence entrenched at their bases seems uncertain. With a divided population, weak economy, and booming drug production, the new Afghan leaders have their work cut out for them.
Sources: SNC, Embraer, Denver Post: “Sierra Nevada Space Systems’ Dream Chaser employees laid off”.
Oct 3/13: Support. The Diario Oficial for the Brazilian MdD includes PORTARIA No 1.787. It states that the FAB’s “Diretor de Material Aeronautico e Belico” Lt. Gen. John Paul Cury has been instructed to negotiate agreements between the FAB’s COMAER and Embraer, and the US LAS program. Sources: Diario Oficial da Uniao [in Portuguese].
FY 2013
Super Tucano wins again, prevails over GAO challenge; 20 more A-29s coming for the AAF; HBC out of bankruptcy as “Beechcraft”; SNC loses their suit, but sheds light on why LAS was canceled.
Super Tucano
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Aug 5/13: Senate FY 2014 budget appropriators have eliminated the $418.6 million Afghan LAS buy for a 2nd batch of 20 A-29s, in the wake of the SIGAR’s recent report (q.v. June 2013).
USAF Maj. Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, the senior airman in theater, describes the AAF as “small but capable,” and says they began flying Mi-35 attack helicopter missions again in July 2013. Aviation Week.
June 2013: The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan (SIGAR) report’s title sums it up: “Afghan Special Mission Wing: DOD Moving Forward with $771.8 Million Purchase of Aircraft that the Afghans Cannot Operate and Maintain”. SIGAR recommends freezing all activity under the 48-plane contracts until improvements happen.
The Special Mission Wing won’t operate A-29s, it will have 4 squadrons that each contain 7 Mi-17 helicopters and 4 PC-12 light transports. On the other hand, some of the factors behind its disarray are common to the Afghan Air Force: maintenance issues, for instance, and better-paying offers elsewhere for pilots who know English. The other connection is political – the SMW’s disarray comes back to haunt AAF Super Tucano funding. SIGAR report [PDF].
June 18/13: AT-6, Plan C. Beechcraft CEO Bill Boisture tells Flight International that he doesn’t expect Congressional lobbying to derail LAS, but thinks they have a 24-plane launch customer for the AT-6C that they’ll be able to announce before the end of 2013. Flight International.
June 13/13: GAO OK. Even before the GAO has made its decision publicly available, Beechcraft’s release reveals that they lost the challenge, and asks Congress to limit LAS purchases to the 1st 20 planes under contract. They sum up:
“It is deeply distressing that the Air Force selected a more expensive, less capable, foreign-manufactured airplane with weapons and systems unfamiliar to, and outside the control of, the United States military. We have known that the requirements for this procurement were written to favor the competition’s aircraft. During this protest, we learned that the GAO’s review looks only at whether the Air Force followed its process, but not whether the process itself was actually correct or appropriate. We question whether the Embraer aircraft with its foreign-made weapons can be certified to U.S. military standards in time to provide the mission-capable aircraft per the contract.”
Be that as it may, what they describe is what the GAO is supposed to do. Any attempt to substitute their own judgment of what is appropriate in a bid protest would be a flagrant abuse, even if the GAO was right and the Pentagon was wrong. They save that for their program reports, and leave it to the legislators to intervene in contracts on those grounds.
Around 2 weeks later, the GAO makes its decision publicly available. Short summary? To meet its proposed offer targets, the AT-6C would experience a 40% rise in Maximum Gross Take-Off Weight, and experience shows that anything over 20% is a serious risk for problems and certification delays, as well as service life issues. There were other issues as well, and the bottom line is that the AT-6C got an Exception aircraft evaluation + High risk, while The A-29 was rated as Exceptional + Low Risk. Major delays would be catastrophic to US plans, and within the RFP itself, there was ample scope to give Sierra Nevada & Embraer the award. US GAO | Beechcraft.
GAO protest fails, LAS cleared to continue
May 2013: FY 2014 OCO Request. The Pentagon releases their “Fiscal Year 2014 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) Request Afghanistan Security Forces Fund” request [PDF], which includes provisions for 20 more LAS planes, budgeted at $416.8 million:
“The initial purchase of twenty Light Air Support (LAS) fixed wing aircraft was funded with FY 2012 funds. An additional 20 aircraft, funded with FY 2014 funds, will bring the total number of LAS aircraft procured for the AAF to 40. A key challenge facing the Afghan Air Force (AAF) is its ability to directly support and assist the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) with air to ground kinetic actions. Currently, ISAF assets with some assistance from the Afghan Special Mission Wing carry this task out. The LAS program is intended to fill this AAF capability gap. The LAS cost per unit is $20.8 million. This is a 2014 [DID: withdrawal date] Enabler.”
April 25/13: Beechcraft’s case. Beechcraft CEO Bill Boisture lays out the core of their protest and case. He starts by saying that the RFP was about compliance with requirements, contends that their AT-6 met all threshold and 5/7 objective requirements, and says their bid was $125 million cheaper. None of that is really new.
On a technical level. Boisture says that the AT-6’s design choices give it better takeoff, climb and cruise performance. The Super Tucano may be larger, but it carries 100 pounds less fuel, and unlike the AT-6 it can’t land at its Maximum Gross Takeoff Weight. Boisture adds that using the EO/IR turret forces the Super Tucano to give up its centerline weapons station.
It’s useful to know what the expected arguments are, but really, this is up to the GAO now. Aviation Week.
April 19/13: No Stop Work Order. The US Court of Federal Claims sides with the USAF decision to ignore a Stop Work Order until the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviews their award. Beechcraft continues its protest with the GAO. Kansas.com.
March 21/13: Lawsuit. Beechcraft Corporation announces that they filed suit again in the Court of Federal Claims, contesting the USAF’s decision to lift the stay of performance on the Light Air Support (LAS) contract while the GAO reviews the protest.
Note that their suit does not contest the award entire, which was the key to overturning the contract last time. Right now, they’re looking for an injunction to halt the existing contract while the GAO reviews their protest. If they’re successful, they’d keep their biggest political argument: the $125 million difference between the bid costs.
March 15/13: As you were. The USAF can’t stop Beechcraft’s protest, but they can use provisions of the Competition in Contracting Act to mandate that the best interests of the United States require continuation of the contract, while the protest takes its course.
They’ve just done that for LAS, and Beechcraft and the Kansas congressional delegation aren’t happy. A letter from state representatives cites waste of taxpayer dollars, which is true if the contract is overturned. What they don’t say is that it also impedes political efforts to stop the contract, by raising cancellation costs so that there’s a lot less difference between Beechcraft + cancellation fees, vs. SNC/Embraer. Beechcraft | Bloomberg | Wichita Eagle.
March 8/13: Protest. Beechcraft announces that they’re protesting the LAS award to the GAO. The award will be on hold until a decision is reached, which must come within 90 days. Their rationale? Beechcraft CEO Bill Boisture:
“Following our debrief with the Air Force earlier this week, we are very perplexed by this decision. Our belief that we have the best aircraft was confirmed by the Air Force rating our aircraft ‘exceptional’…. We simply don’t understand how the Air Force can justify spending over 40 percent more – over $125 million more – for what we consider to be less capable aircraft…”
A couple of notes. It’s possible for multiple contenders to rate as “exceptional”, but still differ with respect to objective (desired vs. mandatory) requirements. In this case, the best value competition had 3 categories, where capability was most important, past performance the 2nd, and cost in 3rd place. It’s hard to argue the AT-6B as superior on capability, and past performance is a tough row given that the A-29 is operational and the AT-6B isn’t. Within the challenge, however, these questions aren’t going to be relevant. GAO’s focus will be whether the USAF violated its own RFP guidelines, or treated one contender unfairly. Congress is where price will be relevant. A better and more proven capability for a foreign air force, flying aircraft bought with American money, may not be as important to politicians as it is to the US military. Beechcraft | SNC/Embraer.
Feb 27/13: Sierra Nevada Corp. in Sparks, NV wins a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract to provide both aircraft and trainers for allied countries under the Building Partnership Capacity program. The 6-year contract could be worth as much as $950 million, and Delivery Order #0001 is more expensive this time – $427.5 million for:
20 Super Tucano planes
6 mission planning stations
6 mission debrief systems
2 ground training devices for pilot training: 1 computer-based trainer, 1 flight training simulator
Interim contractor support for all aircraft maintenance and supply requirements for the aircraft and associated support equipment
Long-lead spares for interim contractor support
Base activation work outside the continental United States
LAS flight certification to United States Air Force Military Training Center standards
This seems to be the same set as December 2011’s $355.1 million contract. To fully evaluate the 20.4% price jump, however, we’d have to look at the exact subsets of work under items like “base activation” and “interim contractor support,” which could be different.
The LAS program’s assembly line will be in Jacksonville, FL. Embraer says that the facility at Jacksonville International Airport is already undergoing modifications necessary to receive the aircraft assembly line, with the support of the state of Florida and the Jacksonville Airport Authority. Coincidentally, SNC touts the LAS contract as supporting “more than 1,400 American jobs” – the same as Hawker Beechcraft’s claims for the T-6 and AT-6 programs. That’s up from past releases, which said “more than 1,200.” Delivery is expected to be complete by April 2015.
This award is “the result of a full and open competition,” and 2 offers were received by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (FA8637-13-D-6003, #0001). FBO | SNC | Embraer.
Super Tucano wins again
Feb 19/13: Just Beechcraft. Beechcraft announces that they’ve emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after dropping the “Hawker” from the corporate name. The firm has also dropped its jets, and its new line includes Bonanza and Baron piston-engine aircraft, the King Air family of twin turboprops, and the T-6/ AT-6 family. Beechcraft [PDF].
HBC out of bankruptcy
Oct 18/12: HBC bankruptcy. Hawker Beechcraft, Inc. announces that it couldn’t reach an agreement with Superior Aviation Beijing Co., Ltd., and will go through normal Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedures instead. They do keep the $50 million deposit, and the plan remains the same: exit jets, keep the rest. They expect to emerge from bankruptcy in Q1 2013 as Beechcraft Corp. Hawker Beechcraft | Reuters.
HBC bankruptcy
Oct 15/12: SNC loses suit. The US Court of Federal Claims rejects SNC’s lawsuit, except that it asks the USAF to evaluate whether its use of funding and earmarks for LAS concept demonstrations with the AT-6 (vid. Oct 14/10 entry) violate the requirement that LAS contenders be non-developmental aircraft.
It also sheds a bit of light on why the USAF decided on the re-compete. The biggest issues included an “incomplete and unorganized” record, destruction of documents by the program team, and this:
“In response to comments from agency counsel that the PCO’s [DID: Program Contracting Officer] proposed Competitive Range Determination (the “CRD”), which eliminated HBDC, was unsatisfactory, the PCO stated that she was not qualified to write it.”
The evaluations were also lacking supporting documentation, and the flight demonstrations were used to assess technical capability. It’s a mystery why that last bit would be a problem, but the process treats technical capability and execution risk as 2 entirely separate things. The glaring weakness in the CRD might have been enough by itself, but Program Management’s failure to adhere to the exact decision process, followed by poor document turnover and poor cooperation with counsel, led the USAF to conclude that this wasn’t a case it could take to court. Court Ruling No. 12-375C [PDF] | Aviation Week.
SNC loses suit – but shows why USAF cancelled LAS
FY 2012
Super Tucano wins, GAO OKs, HBC sues, contract canceled; SNC’s turn to sue; HBC into bankruptcy process, as their AT-6 qualifies an array of weapons.
AT-6B vs. EMB-314
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Full comparison graphic, originals from SNC (JPG, 345.4k).
Sept 17/12: AT-6. Hawker Beechcraft announces [PDF] that they’ve completed Phase III weapons assessment at Eglin AFB, FL. Phases I and II of the weapons assessment included computer-aided deliveries of general purpose and laser-guided bombs, as well as air-to-ground and air-to-air gunnery using the aircraft’s two 50-caliber guns.
By the end of Phase III, weapons integrated and tested on the AT-6 included .50-cal/ 12.7mm gun pods; unguided bombs up to 500 pounds, Paveway-II laser-guided bombs up to 500 pounds; APKWS (BAE/GD), TALON (Raytheon/EAI), and GATR (ATK/Elbit) laser-guided 70mm rockets; and AGM-114P+ Hellfire short-range strike missiles.
That’s a very good array, which will suit the needs of most American allies. As a matter of comparison, the Super Tucano hasn’t tested laser-guided 70mm rockets or AGM-114 Hellfire missiles yet, but it offers a wider array of gun pods; a wider array of laser-guided weapons; Brazilian incendiary and cluster bombs; an array of air-to-air missiles including the AIM-9L Sidewinder, Brazil’s MAA-1 Piranha, and Israel’s Python 4/5s; and the heavier Raytheon AGM-65 Maverick strike missile.
July 24/12: Late. Air Force Brig. Gen. Timothy Ray, who heads the NATO air training command in Afghanistan, sums things up by saying that “Afghanistan is unlikely to gain an independent, fully functioning air force until around 2016 or 2017, two to three years after the U.S. pullout”.
The rest of the article provides a snapshot of the Afghan Air Force’s current state, and notes that the USA has spent nearly $300 million to upgrade the AAF’s Shindad AB facilities. Wall Street Journal.
July 10/12: Boeing and Embraer announce cooperation on the Super Tucano program, which will involve integrating Boeing weapons on the aircraft. Their GPS-guided JDAM family of bomb kits would be front and center in any such effort, and Boeing’s official statement is that:
“The new weapons integration capacity enhances the solution presented to the U.S. Air Force Light Air Support (LAS) program by not only meeting program requirements, but exceeding them in ways that are important to the customer.”
July 9/12: AT-6 LRIP. Hawker Beechcraft Defense Company (HBDC) announces that they’ve begun low-rate initial production the AT-6 light attack aircraft in Wichita, KS, “in response to significant indications of interest around the world for the AT-6.”
“The aircraft has successfully demonstrated high-end net-centric and light attack capabilities and full compatibility with U.S. and NATO Joint Terminal Attack Controller systems during the Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2010, the Air National Guard Operational Assessment, and capabilities demonstrations of precision guided weapons conducted between 2010 and 2012.”
AT-6 production begins
July 9/12: HBC Chinese ownership? Hawker Beechcraft, Inc. signs an exclusivity agreement that may lead to a buyout by China’s Superior Aviation Beijing Co. for $1.79 billion. This deal explicitly excludes Hawker Beechcraft Defense Company (HBDC), which would remain a separate entity. That would keep the T-6 and AT-6 out of China’s Hands, but the USA is mostly done with its JPATS trainer buys, so HBDC’s stand-alone survival would be questionable.
June 19/12: Bids in. Sierra Nevada Corporation announces that they’re participating in the new LAS source selection process, but they’re still pursuing court action to reinstate the December 2011 contract. Their release also contains a jab at the removal of any requirement for a flight demonstration.
SNC commits that about 86% of each aircraft’s dollar value will come from components supplied by U.S. companies “or countries that qualify under the Buy American Act,” and that Embraer will invest about $3 million in bringing the Jacksonville, FL.
June 12/13: SNC lawsuit. SNC has gone from a motion to see documents, to a lawsuit in the United States Court of Federal Claims that contests the termination of its December 2011 contract, and attacks the terms of the new RFP.
“According to SNC the cancellation of the contract was an extreme response to what appears to be paperwork errors on the part of the USAF. Moreover, the revised Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by the USAF is tilted in favor of the competition.”
To bolster that last point, SNC cites the elimination of flight demonstration/evaluation, the delay of First Article Testing until the point of delivery (!) in July 2014, and the fact that Amendment 8 now allows improvements that were made to the aircraft since the original source selection to be admitted into consideration. Their point of contention is that the USAF gave Hawker Beechcraft millions of Title X dollars for development, exercises etc. with US ANG pilots [DID: vid. Oct 14/10 entry], and that the products of that work should be tipping the scales. We understand the fairness argument there, but the EMB-314/ A-29 has a number of military customers doing the same things in real-life operational missions, so it’s not like there’s a major disadvantage. SNC.
May 8/12: HBC gripe. After an initial review of the revised LAS RFP, HawkerBeechcraft has this to say [PDF]:
“We are profoundly disappointed to see in the amended RFP that the USAF continues to permit antiquated pilot accommodation standards for ejection seat equipped aircraft which can place both USAF and partner nation pilots at unnecessary and higher risk. Those standards were developed by the USAF to protect their own male and female pilot population, and every aircraft acquired by the USAF should meet those modern safety standards.”
The Super Tucano reportedly uses Martin-Baker’s Mk 10 LCX ejection seat. Martin-Baker is the standard provider for pretty much every Western aircraft, including every US fighter type.
April 17/12: SNC sues. Sierra Nevada files a court motion in the botched Light Air Support award. They would like to see the content of the Air Force’s Commander Directed Investigation (CDI) of the LAS program, to assess whether a recompete is really warranted. SNC | Reuters.
Feb 28/12: Canceled. The USAF cancels the LAS contract with Sierra Nevada, and reinstates Hawker Beechcraft to the competition. USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said:
“That is one of the things I’m truly sad about – not withstanding the embarrassment of this to us as an Air Force – it’s the fact that we’re letting our [Afghan] teammates down here…”
See: HBC | Defense News.
LAS canceled
Feb 2/12: Lobbying. “Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the winner of the U.S. Air Force Light Air Support (LAS) competition, today issued a point-by-point rebuttal of misinformation being spread by the disqualified contender for the contract.”
APKWS loading, AT-6C
(click to view full)
January 2012: AT-6. BAE’s APKWS and Raytheon’s TALON laser-guided rockets fired from a HawkerBeechcraft AT-6C turboprop light attack plane at Eglin AFB.
The shots will help both BAE and HawkerBeechcraft, whose setback in the 20-plane American LAS competition was mitigated by an initial sale of 6 “weapons capable” T-6C+ to Mexico. Mexico has used existing Pilatus trainers against domestic insurgencies before. The T-6C family’s proven ability to fire laser-guided rockets makes the new planes more valuable to Mexico, and to other potential customers. BAE | HawkerBeechcraft | Aviation Week.
Jan 25/12: Second Line of Defense:
“We are publishing a USAF background paper currently circulating on the Hill. It validates everything we have written on Second Line of Defense for more than a year about the LAS competition…. This paper provides information on the LAS acquisition. Due to the ongoing litigation brought by Hawker Beechcraft Defense Corporation (HBDC), the United States Air Force (USAF) cannot release information regarding the LAS competition.”
Jan 19/12: A Defence Talk article sums up the current situation:
“Since September, many unexpected changes have been made to the original USAF requirements. At the start of the competition, the Light Attack Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (LAAR) program, planned to supply up to 100 aircraft to the USAF, was paired with Light Air Support (LAS) to supply 20 aircraft to Afghan Air Force.
Nevertheless, in September the USAF backtrack on LAAR, reducing the number to 15 aircraft…. The change in priorities left Hawker and the SNC/Embraer team to duck it out for LAAR’s 15 and LAS’s 20 aircraft requirement…. Meantime the U.S. Navy has run into difficulties of its own, by clearly preferring the Super Tucano after it took part in an evaluation phase known as Imminent Fury programme in 2009 to develop a CAS/COIN platform for special operations. Since then, congress rejected additional funds of $22 million for further development in 2010 and $17 million last October for phase II known as Combat Dragon II programme for deployment and combat confirmation of the Super Tucano’s capabilities in Afghanistan.”
Jan 4/12: Stop work. In light of the pending legal review, the USAF issues a stop work order for the LAS contract that was awarded to SNC. Source.
Dec 30/11: LAS. Sierra Nevada Corp. in Sparks, NV wins a $355.1 million firm-fixed price delivery order for the Light Air Support (LAS) aircraft and associated support. It includes:
20 Super Tucano planes
6 mission planning stations
6 mission debrief systems
2 ground training devices for pilot training: 1 computer-based trainer, 1 flight training simulator
Interim contractor support for all aircraft maintenance and supply requirements for the aircraft and associated support equipment
1 lot interim contractor support long-lead work in the continental United States
1 lot interim contractor support base activation work outside the continental United States
LAS flight certification to United States Air Force Military Training Center standards
Work will be performed in Sparks, NV (55%), and Jacksonville, FL (45%). Delivery order #0001 is expected to be complete April 30/14, and the basic contract has a 5-year ordering period. ASC/WWYAC at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH manages the contract (FA8637-12-D-6001, #0001).
A $355M contract confirms the USAF procurement of Light Air Support (LAS) A-29 Embraer Super Tucano aircraft via Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC). Deliveries of this batch of 20 planes is expected to be completed by the end of April 2014. They will be used by the Afghan air force for training, reconnaissance and air support. Last year Hawker Beechcraft filed a GAO protest for being excluded from the RFP and sued the US Air Force after losing the protest. DefenseLink | SNC | DefesaNet [in Portuguese].
Super Tucano wins LAS: 20 for AAF
Dec 27/11: HBC Sues. Hawker Beechcraft announces a lawsuit with the Court of Federal Claims.
“The company still has no concrete reasons for the AT-6’s exclusion, having been denied explanation by the U.S. Air Force on two occasions. The LAS contract is valued at nearly $1 billion of U.S. taxpayer money and exclusion of the AT-6 could result in a de facto award to a non-U.S. company. “We are disappointed in the GAO’s decision as we were relying on their investigation to provide transparency into what has been a bidding process of inconsistent, irregular and constantly changing requirements…” said Bill Boisture, Hawker Beechcraft chairman and CEO.”
Dec 22/11: GAO OK. The GAO dismisses Hawker Beechcraft’s protest of the LAS award. All it will say of the USAF’s actions is that:
“After reviewing HBDC’s responses to issues raised during discussions, the Air Force concluded that HBDC had not adequately corrected deficiencies in its proposal. In this regard, the agency concluded that “multiple deficiencies and significant weaknesses found in HBDC’s proposal make it technically unacceptable and results in unacceptable mission capability risk.”
Their ruling didn’t address that. It’s a narrow dismissal, on a narrow point of timing:
“Accordingly, HBDC was required to request a debriefing within three days of its receipt of the Air Force notice on November 4, or, absent a debriefing, was required to file its protest no later than 10 days after that date.[4] Where HBDC did not timely request a debriefing, and failed to file its protest until 17 days after it was notified that its proposal had been excluded from the competitive range, the protest is untimely and must be dismissed.”
Nov 20/11: Lobbying knife fight. We submit “Obama Admin Bans US Aircraft Maker, Favors Non-US Firm with Ties to Iran on Light Aircraft Project” as a snapshot of the type of public lobbying underway. It cites the fact that the order would keep the T-6 line open past 2015, securing “1,400 employees in 20 states – including 800 at Hawker Beechcraft in Wichita” who work on the AT-6 and T-6 programs.
We’re not sure how long 20 planes can keep them busy, but OK, sure. The article also focuses on Embraer’s sale of 40 EMB-312 Tucano trainers to Iran 22 years ago, in 1989. Tucanos are globally popular training aircraft in service with 17 air forces. They lack the EMB-314 Super Tucano’s purpose-built close air support construction and mounted machine guns, but they can be armed. Iran has armed them for close support roles within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Air Force (as distinct from Iran’s regular air force), and Brazil’s Lula administration has remained friendly to Iran without being aggressive toward the USA.
Nov 18/11: AT-6 out. Hawker Beechcraft says that the AT-6 has been excluded from the Light Air Support bidding process, and they don’t know why. We’ve received unverified reports of landing gear issues, and other engineering glitches related to added weight on the T-6 airframe, but we can’t confirm them. Here’s what Hawker Beechcraft says:
“We have been notified by the United States Air Force in a letter that the Beechcraft AT-6 has been excluded from the Light Air Support competition. The letter provides no basis for the exclusion.
We are both confounded and troubled by this decision, as we have been working closely with the Air Force for two years and, with our partners, have invested more than $100 million preparing to meet the Air Force’s specific requirements. Additionally, the AT-6 has been evaluated and proven capable through a multi-year, Congressionally-funded demonstration program led by the Air National Guard.
We have followed the Air Force’s guidance closely and, based on what we have seen, we continue to believe that we submitted the most capable, affordable and sustainable light attack aircraft as measured against the Air Force’s Request for Proposal. We have requested a debriefing from the Air Force and will be exploring all potential options in the coming days.”
See: HBC release | DC Examiner | DefenseTech.
AT-6 out of LAS
FY 2010 – 2011
LAS RFP; RAND urges OA-X forward; Support expressed, but funding delayed; AATC experiments with AT-6.
AT-6B exercise
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Jan 18/11: LAS. System Demonstration completed. Source.
Dec 28/10: LAS. Vendor proposals received. Source.
Oct 14/10: AATC & AT-6. The Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Command Test Center (AATC) at Tucson International Airport, AZ is working on the requirements for light attack planes, and working with the AT-6 as a concept demonstrator. they inserted systems from A-10 and F-16 aircraft into the plane, performed testing on their own and with shipped-in A-10 and F-16 pilots, and continue to make adjustments and refinements.
AATC Director of Engineering Lt. Col. Keith Colmer is back from Iraq, after flying close air support and overwatch missions in an F-16. Colmer is concerned about the economics. F-16 cost per flying hour is around $15,000 – $17,000 dollars per flight hour for fuel and maintenance, and the A-10 isn’t that much cheaper. In contrast AATC officials peg the AT-6 at about $600 dollars per flight hour.
Overall, they see an aircraft with multiple uses. Joint Terminal Attack Controllers that embed with ground forces aren’t getting enough sorties to keep them trained, and a less expensive aircraft could not only perform that training, it could let them fly in the backseat on occasion to improve their understanding. Other countries are already using similar planes for border security, counter drug and homeland defense; and military sensor turrets can easily be re-used for state emergencies like fires, floods or other disasters, in places where UAVs can’t get civil flight clearance. USAF.
AATC experiments
Sept 14/10: In the wake of the LAS RFP, most of the “Light Attack Armed Reconnaissance” discussion at the Air Force Association’s Air & Space Conference has shifted toward building the capabilities of partner air forces, and less around American use. Derek Hess, director of AT-6 development programs for Hawker Beechcraft, describes it as:
“…a structurally enhanced Beechcraft T-6A/B airframe with a more powerful Pratt & Whitney PT6A-68D engine, and a Lockheed Martin A-10C Mission System that is integrated with the T-6B primary flight avionics system. It also has the same sensor suite as the MC-12W with a laser designator/range finder. “When our airplane wakes up in the morning, it believes it’s an A-10…”
Aug 12/10: LAS RFP. LAAR is now Light Air Support, as the USAF releases its Request for Proposals, solicitation #FA8637-10-R-6000:
“The purpose of this contract is the acquisition of nondevelopmenatal Light Air Support Aircraft for current and future Building Partnership Capacity (BPC) nations. The procurement includes necessary Aircraft Interim Contractor Support (ICS); Ground Training Devices (GTDs) and corresponding Contractor Logistics Support (CLS); and Air Advisor Training for US Pilots allowing them the capability to train other Building Partnership Capacity (BPC) nations. The supplies covered are more fully defined in the attachments. This solicitation includes provisions for the Government, to include any Federal Agency, to procure additional quantities of the same supplies and services in the future, by issuing one or more orders against the resulting contract as other customers are added onto this vehicle by the contracting office (LAS Program Office).”
The Afghan delivery order will involve 20 planes. The RFP is amended many times, with the last change coming on May 30/12.
LAS RFP
May 10/10: LAAR. IHS Jane’s:
“There have been several proposals for LAAR – from the Aermacchi M-346 jet, through a reborn OV-10 Bronco, to the Air Tractor AT-802U militarised agricultural aircraft – but the front-runners appear to be two evolutions of turboprop trainers: Embraer’s Super Tucano and the Hawker Beechcraft AT-6.”
Spring 2010: Afghan war commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal sends an urgent request to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to acquire 4 EMB-314 Super Tucanos for American use, to provide extra air power to support Special Operations troops in Afghanistan.
The project stalls after lawmakers led by the Kansas congressional delegation block the $44 million request for funding. They’re reportedly concerned that the buy would give the EMB-314 an advantage in the LAS competition. Source.
Super Tucano UOR denied
April 8/10: AT-6. Hawker Beechcraft begins flying its modified AT-6 prototype, which it expects to submit for LAAR. Defense Tech.
April 5/10: RAND study endorses OA-X. RAND’s “Courses of Action for Enhancing U.S. Air Force “Irregular Warfare” Capabilities” makes a number of recommendations. Two of them involve training a lot more Iraqi and Afghan aviators, and standing up a dedicated counter-insurgency (COIN) air wing equipped with about 100 “OA-X” light attack aircraft.
They’d be designed to improve the training pipeline, make it much easier to partner with and transition Iraqi and Afghan aviators to similar planes, and reduce excessive flying hour demands for expensive and aging jets like the F-16, which are only using a small fraction of their capabilities. RAND Report MG-913 | DoD Buzz.
RAN