Additional aircraft from the order of 75 units will head from the production line to the Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, Oklahoma “in the coming months.” The base hosts the FTU (Formal Training Unit) for the OA-1K. The OA-1K will initially supplement and then replace the U-28A Draco, a single-engine ISR platform based on the Pilatus PC-12, operated by the 1st Special Operations Wing (SOW) at Hurlburt Field and the 27th SOW at Cannon AFB, New Mexico.With the name being a tribute to the rugged and versatile A-1 Skyraider, which served from 1946 to the early 1980s, the tandem-seater Skyraider II is armed with a variety of air-to-ground weapons and electro-optical systems for CAS (Close Air Support), precision strike and manned ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) roles. The use of the new aircraft would be primarily linked to the special operation forces (SOF), able to orbit over the target area, at 200 NM from the base, in support to the operators for six hours with a payload of 6,000 lb.
Author: Parth Satam
Published at: 2025-04-06 21:02:17
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