Agricultural Overwatch: SOCOM’s Air Tractor-L3Harris AT-802U Sky Warden
Air Tractor-L3Harris AT-802U Sky Warden
On the 1st August 2022, US Special Operations Command (SOCOM)’s Armed Overwatch program concluded with an initial contract worth $170 million being awarded to Air Tractor-L3Harris and their AT-802U Sky Warden. The Sky Warden is a modified version of Air Tractor’s tried and true agricultural crop duster plane, the AT-802.
The indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract — a type of contract that provides for an undetermined quantity of supplies or services over a fixed period — has a cost ceiling of $3 billion and could include delivery of up to 75 AT-802U aircraft.
You might be forgiven for thinking what business does an airframe designed in 1990 for spraying pesticides across middle-America have in a US Special Forces Aviation program? I want to argue there is not only method in the seeming madness, but interesting implications for future military aviation doctrine.
Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
Armed Over-what?
Armed overwatch is a concept SOCOM developed in the wake of the Global War on Terror (GWOT). In essence, it’s a recognition of the fact that western special forces (SOF) are heavily reliant on Close Air Support (CAS) and Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets being close at hand. But it’s also a recognition that providing that capability should and could be much cheaper for the taxpayer.
In Afghanistan, US & ISAF Special Forces relied heavily on expensive platforms like the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II and Lockheed AC-130 gunship to provide close air support. At a reported running cost of $22,531 per hour, highly capable and beloved platforms like the A-10 are not cheap to operate, even by US DoD standards.
The A-10 is a dual turbo-jet airframe built around an equally expensive GAU-8 Avenger 30mm cannon, designed in the cold war to zip around the skies of East Germany knocking out scores of Soviet T-60s. It was not designed to loiter above complex areas of operations (AO) for hours on end. It was certainly not designed to be cheap and modular.
The thinking was, can we do better for less? Judging by how procurement of affordable armed overwatch aircraft has become a priority for many western special forces in recent years, this class of new (old) plane might be the answer.
US fast jets in the skies above Iraq during the Gulf war 1991.
The possibilities afforded by uncontested airspace.
Once you’ve established air superiority, the risks of losing aircraft to enemy air power or surface-to-air missile threats (such as SAM-site or MANPADs etc.) are minimal. In the kind of counter-insurgency environments the US and it’s allies find themselves engaged in, fighting poorly-equipped irregular forces, there is essentially no need for fast jets (with short loiter times) to provide ISR and CAS.
Your typical ISR/CAS airframe doesn’t need to outrun SAM’s or out maneuver opposing force (OPFOR) jets. That would be overkill. It would be much better (and cheaper) then, to deploy an airframe with higher fuel efficiency and longer loiter times to provide extended support to those on the ground.
An additional benefit is the ability for more ruggedised airframes like the AT-802U to take off from almost any runway, including operating in rural or rugged terrain with limited or non-existent infrastructure and no ground support. There are no pristine runways in rural Missouri!
With insurgencies across the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa likely to escalate in the near future, and continued unrest in the Middle-East you can see the appeal for AFRICOM and SOCOM elements operating in the middle of nowhere.
AT-802U Sky Warden prototype on display at NDIA, 2022.
Lower tech, higher capability.
One of the main benefits of procuring AO aircraft is the increased modularity that they provide for conducting operations in complex and challenging environments. Courtesy of L3 Harris’s involvement, the AT-802U Sky Warden can be equipped with a range of sensors and weapons systems, which allow them to gather intelligence on enemy movements and activities, as well as to engage enemy targets when necessary:
ISR capabilities.
WESCAM MX-15 EO/IR imaging system
WESCAM MX-15 EO/IR imaging system mounted on S.C.A.R Pod
Thales I-Master Surveillance Radar System
Thales' I-Master tactical surveillance radar system (R) mounted on Watchkeeper UAV at Paris Air Show 2015
SIGINT/ ELINT capability (unknown)
Strike Capabilities.
Dynetics LCLT-4 Small Glide Munition
Dynetics LCLT-4 Small Glide Munition being tested against an SUV
Arnold Defense LAU-131/A 7-round rocket launcher
The LAU-131/A 7-round rocket pod mounted on Boeing AH-64 Apache
Lockheed Martin/Raytheon GBU-12 Paveway II
GBU-12 Paveway II guided munition
Conclusion: Sometimes cheaper can mean better.
The Armed Overwatch program has yet to be fully realised, and it may turn out to be a disaster. I dare to think not since the thinking behind the AO program is fundamentally sound.
We may be witnessing a turn towards a brighter future for military procurement, at least as far as cost-benefit ratios are concerned. A program seemingly headed up by clear-thinking professionals, keen on purchasing the right tool for the job based on a proven machine with a clear mission-set, rather than chasing the latest and greatest unproven technology.
If the Armed Overwatch program is a success, and I hope it is, much could be learned here.
