New plane coming to local skies: Sky Warden aircraft selected for Armed Overwatch program
MELBOURNE — The U.S. Special Operations Command has selected L3Harris Technologies and Air Tractor Inc.’s AT-802U Sky Warden aircraft for its Armed Overwatch program that will be used by the Hurlburt Field-headquartered Air Force Special Operations Command.
The award of the Indefinite Quantity, Indefinite Delivery contract includes a cost ceiling of $3 billion. The program includes delivery of up to 75 manned, fixed wing aircraft, with an initial program contract award of $170 million.
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The Sky Warden plane was selected from five aircraft that were tested at Eglin Air Force Base in June and July last year.
The five companies whose aircraft were tested last year include Virginia-based Leidos, Inc.; MAG Aerospace, also based in Virginia; Kansas-headquartered Textron Aviation Defense LLC; Nevada-headquartered Sierra Nevada Corp; and L3Harris of Texas.
The fleet of modern multi-mission Sky Warden aircraft will address SOCOM’s need for a deployable, sustainable single-engine fixed-wing, crewed and affordable aircraft system. It will provide close air support, precision strike, armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), strike coordination and forward air controller requirements for use in austere and permissive environments.
The aircraft is designed be used in irregular warfare operations.
“An important part of our Trusted Disruptor strategy is listening closely to combatant commanders’ needs and responding faster than the evolving threats,” said Christopher E. Kubasik, chair and chief executive officer of L3Harris. “We want to deliver game-changing, modular solutions to U.S. special operators for their hardest missions, and Sky Warden does just that.”
L3Harris expects to rapidly modify last summer’s Armed Overwatch prototype demonstrator into the production configuration and provide for customer weapon system testing in approximately six months.
Production of new, fully-modified, Armed Overwatch mission-configured aircraft will begin in 2023 at L3Harris’ Tulsa, Oklahoma, modification center following initial production at Air Tractor’s Olney, Texas, aircraft manufacturing facility. Six new aircraft will be delivered under the low-rate initial production Lot 1.
“Sky Warden will bring powerful and affordable close air support, precision strike, armed ISR, and command and control capabilities directly to special operations forces in the battlefield,” said Sean Stackley, president of integrated mission systems at L3Harris. “We are ready now to begin work on this modern, multi-mission system for the SOCOM Armed Overwatch program.”
The production-ready Sky Warden system is tailorable for a variety of mission requirements to meet U.S. mission needs.
“The Sky Warden design reflects our commitment to America’s national security and the AT-802U will be equipped with everything we’ve learned manufacturing aircraft over the past 46 years,” said Jim Hirsch, president of Air Tractor Inc. “The L3Harris team is an excellent partner, and our production and engineering staff are ready to immediately deliver this world-class product to our nation’s special forces.”
Learn more about Sky Warden at www.L3Harris.com/SkyWarden.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Hurlburt: Sky Warden aircraft selected for Armed Overwatch program
