Combat aircraft

BRONCO II UNVEILED

NEW LIGHT ATTACK ENTRANT IN US MARKET

P

ARAMOUNT GROUP

INTERNATIONAL

revealed its design for

a new light attack and

tactical intelligence,

surveillance and

reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft

based on its Mwari multi-mission

aircraft on February 22. Although

developed by the South African

company, the aircraft will be

marketed in the US by the newly

created Bronco Combat Systems

(BCS). Known as the Bronco II, the

aircraft is based on the two-seat

Advanced High-Performance

Reconnaissance Light Aircraft

(AHRLAC), developed by Aerosud

in collaboration with Paramount,

which is South Africa’s largest

privately owned defense and

aerospace business. A prototype  rst

 ew in July 2014 and was followed

by a production prototype, which

took to the air on July 15, 2017.

The Mwari features mission

systems and advanced ISR payloads

developed by Boeing. It is equipped

with 25 hardpoints for weapons,

targeting pods, electronics

and self-protection systems,

including six under the wings.

An interchangeable conformal

mission bay located under the

fuselage has a maximum payload

of 1,764lb (800kg) and allows a

single aircraft to be con gured to

perform multiple roles. Depending

on the requirements of a mission,

the IMPS can be equipped to carry

a variety of payloads including

electronic (ELINT), signals (SIGINT)

and communication (COMINT)

intelligence, semi-active radar

or cargo.

Although the Bronco II was not

developed speci cally with the

USAF’s OA-X program in mind, the

contractor team believes that the

aircraft is perfectly suited for the

light attack mission. The team also

plans to market the aircraft for

special operations, border patrol

and law enforcement missions

and any application that requires

advanced ISR and  nd/ x/ nish/

exploit/analyze (F3A) capabilities.

Paramount selected the name

Bronco II to honor the original

OV-10 Bronco, which was produced

by Rockwell International and

was renowned for its impressive

counter-insurgency (COIN) mission

capabilities.

PREDATORS

AND REAPERS

THE 432ND WING held a

retirement ceremony for the

MQ-1B remotely piloted air

system (RPAS) at Creech AFB,

Nevada, on March 9. Contractor-

operated Predators will, however,

continue to  y from deployed

locations through the end of

2018. The USAF is reportedly
      discussing the possible transfer of
      some of the retired Predators to
      the US Navy. Predators were  rst
      deployed operationally to Gjader,
      Albania, and were assigned to the
      11th Reconnaissance Squadron at
      Creech, which was then known as
      Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary
      Field, Nevada, in July 1995.
      In conjunction with the
      retirement, the 489th Attack
      Squadron launched the  nal local
      Predator  ight from Creech and
      the 15th Expeditionary Attack
      Squadron  ew the  nal combat
      mission in an undisclosed area of
      responsibility.
      As part of its build-up of aviation
      forces in Afghanistan, the USAF
      recently transferred an undisclosed
      number of MQ-9As that had been
      supporting operations in Iraq
      and Syria. Rather than crating
      the Reapers and moving them
      via airlift, they were  own to
      Kandahar. Although the USAF had
      previously  own MQ-9As between
      locations in other theaters, it had
      not been done previously in US
      Central Command (CENTCOM).
      According to Air Forces Central
      (AFCENT),  ying the Reapers took
      less than 10 per cent of the time
      that airlift would have required.
      As a result, they were available
      for missions almost immediately
      after arriving in Afghanistan. The
      USAF reportedly has nearly three
      squadrons’ worth of Reapers
      operating from Kandahar.
      CENTCOM reports that an
      MQ-9A recently conducted a
      pre-planned multi-role mission
      when it delivered four 500lb
      (227kg) GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack
      Munitions that destroyed a Taliban
      narcotics facility in Helmand
      Province on February 22. As part of
      its renewed focus on Afghanistan
      CENTCOM is conducting a
      deliberate air campaign against
      Taliban revenue sources.

JSTARS RETIREMENT PLANNED

THE USAF’S FY 2019 budget request

includes plans to divest three of its

17 E-8C Joint Surveillance Target

Attack Radar System (J-STARS)

aircraft in 2019. According to the

Air Force Secretary, the aircraft,

which represent 20 per cent of the

JSTARS  eet, do not  y regularly. The

USAF budget also terminated plans

for a JSTARS recap (replacement).

The service expects to conduct

an advanced battle management

system analysis of alternatives

this summer.

The air force will also retain seven

Boeing E-3 AWACS that it had

planned to retire. In addition to the

integration of cockpit upgrades,

the Sentries will receive advanced

management and surveillance

bridge capabilities that will permit

them to better conduct air-to-

ground battle management.

HH-60W ENTERS FINAL ASSEMBLY

SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT HAS begun

 nal assembly of the  rst HH-60W

combat rescue helicopter for the

USAF at its Stratford, Connecticut,

facility. The engineering

manufacturing development (EMD)

aircraft is the  rst of four that will

support the  ight test program.

Sikorsky will also produce  ve

system demonstration test articles

(SDTAs) under the EMD phase

of the program. The HH-60W is

expected to make its  rst  ight in

late 2018, around two months ahead

of schedule. In addition to nine

helicopters, the $1.5-billion EMD and

SDTA contract includes six aircrew

and maintenance training devices.

AIR FORCE ONE REPLACEMENT

MOVES FORWARD

THE WHITE HOUSE and Boeing have

reached an agreement regarding

completion of two 747-800-series

aircraft as VC-25Bs to replace the

current VC-25A presidential transports.

Boeing will complete them under

a $3.9-billion  xed-price contract, a

saving of $1.4 billion over the original

estimate of more than $5 billion. The

contract includes development and

production of components unique to

the mission such as communications

suite, internal and external stairs, large

galleys and structural changes. The

total takes in some development and

design work, two 747-8 airframes and

the engineering, manufacturing and

development (EMD) contract, which

has not yet been awarded. The USAF

had purchased a pair of 747s that were

ordered by but never delivered to the

bankrupt Russian airline Transaero.

The fi rst HH-60W combat rescue helicopter entered fi nal assembly

recently at Sikorsky Aircraft’s Stratford, Connecticut facility. It is expected

to make its fi rst fl ight later this year. Sikorsky Aircraft

UNITED STATES [NEWS]

http://www.combataircraft.net // May 2018 13

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