Sep 162013
A new ground attack plane is actually being built in the US:
Seems like a reasonable design for a subsonic bushfighter, though the decision to have the engines in nacelles *that* close to the wings, but not faired into them, seems odd. That area looks draggy. At first glance it would seem that fairing that spot over wouldn’t increase drag but would decrease weight.
It has six underwing hardpoints and an internal payload bay. first flight is by the end of the year, pretty quick by normal aerospace standards (development began in early 2012). With the DoD buy a combat aircraft that was not developed to their specifications?
| Aircraft Length | 43 ft 6 in |
| Wingspan | 47 ft 4 in |
| Height | 14 ft 0 in |
| Standard Empty Weight | 11,800 lbs |
| Max Takeoff Weight | 21,250 lbs |
| Max Internal Fuel Load | 6,000 lbs |
| Max Internal Payload Bay | 3,000 lbs |
| Thrust | ~8,000 lbs |
| Max Speed | 450 KTAS |
| Service Ceiling | 45,000 ft |
| Ferry Range | 2,400 NM |
I really have to wonder if it adds that much over the T/AT-6 II, Super Tucano, PC-9 etc as a light attack/COIN aircraft; or even over the venerable old OV-10?
I believe the important word there is “old.” Those aircraft are no longer in production. Spares are probably hard to come by without stripping other airframes.
It seems to me from a quick glance at their website that they are proposing a manned aircraft for jobs that are quickly moving to unmanned aircraft. However, if Textron is involved, I guess they know something. Shouldn’t they?
I’ve read an article on this plane before, I’m glad they have better angles on this page. From the look of it, this plane would be better if they added a swing wing like on the Tomcat.
Swing wings are complex and expensive – not the Textron objective
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