The Air Force is 10 days into its "light attack experiment" at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, where four aircraft -- AirTractor and L3's AT-802L Longsword; Sierra Nevada and Embraer's A-29 Super Tucano; and Textron and AirLand LLC's Scorpion, as well as their AT-6B Wolverine -- have been strutting their stuff.
Air Force pilots already have flown basic surface attack missions in the A-29 and AT-6, according to the service, and conducted "familiarization flights" in the Scorpion and AT-802L as part of the month-long event.
The live-fly exercises will move into combat maneuver scenarios and weapons drops, some of which have already happened.
"This experiment is about looking at new ways to improve readiness and lethality," Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said in a statement Wednesday. Goldfein, along with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, stopped by the event, which the service has been putting together for months.
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How service leaders plan to evaluate the performance of four very different aircraft -- from jet to turboprop plane to an armored cropduster -- is still to be determined.
The aircraft were on static display for leaders, including Air Combat Command commander Gen. Mike Holmes and Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, the Air Force's military deputy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition at the Pentagon, to check out.
Goldfein even flew in the AT-6 and the A-29, according to reports.
"We're experimenting and innovating, and we're doing it in new and faster ways," Wilson said of the experiment, dubbed OA-X. "Experiments like these help drive innovation and play a key role in enhancing the lethality of our force."
Goldfein added, "We are determining whether a commercial off-the-shelf aircraft and sensor package can contribute to the coalition fight against violent extremism. I appreciate industry's willingness to show us what they have to offer."
The service has said the prolonged conflict in the Middle East, with the Islamic State and other extremist groups extending their influence in the region, is the impetus for buying another plane -- just one that won't cost taxpayers a fortune.
"We want to look at a concept so we could have a lower operating cost, a lower unit cost, for something to be able to operate in a permissive ... environment than what I would require a fourth- or a fifth-gen aircraft to be able to operate in," Bunch said in March.
But no matter what the outcome, some in Washington, D.C., are already pleasantly surprised the Air Force has become more hands-on in potential future weapons and aircraft buying strategies.
"The light attack experiment at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, provides an example for how rapid acquisition and experimentation can help our military procure the needed capabilities more quickly, more efficiently, and more affordably than we have in the past," Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain said.
"Our adversaries are modernizing to deploy future capabilities aimed at eroding the U.S. military advantage -- and reversing that trend will require a new, innovative approach to acquisition and procurement," he said in a statement Wednesday.
The Arizona Republican in January released his white paper assessment on how the Defense Department should move forward in military spending.
The former Navy pilot stressed that, while the Air Force should sustain its A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter fleet for close-air support, "the Air Force should procure 300 low-cost, light-attack fighters that would require minimal work to develop."
McCain on Wednesday stressed his committee has been supportive of the action, and "included $1.2 billion in authorized spending for the program in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018."
"I am encouraged to see the Air Force using the rapid acquisition authorities that Congress has given the Department of Defense in recent defense authorization bills," he said. "The light attack aircraft will be an integral part of building our military capacity to combat current threats, and this experiment is a new model for quickly getting our warfighters the capabilities they need to bring the fight to the enemy."
The event is scheduled to run through Aug. 31.
Here are some videos from the event so far:
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