L3Harris OA-1K Skyraider II (USSOCOM Armed Overwatch)

While perhaps less sexy than some of the other contenders, the Skyraider II does seem very much fit for purpose. The arguments regarding transit time to the target completely miss the point. The core of this mission is to fill the gap in providing ISR, strike capability, and even tactical air control to friendly forces located far from more conventional types of air support. It doesn't replace drones in monitoring or striking a specific target, it provides a far more robust overwatch in terms of situational awareness, flexibility, and rapid response in support of friendly forces on the ground than any drone today can provide. Pick a place on the map in remote areas with no significant U.S. or allied airbases for many hundreds of miles, say the Sahel in Africa. That's the sort of place the Skyraider II would shine.
 
TomcatViP said:
I fear that the OA-1 faces the same problem as the Tucano: it either carries fuel or ammo at range. Already, the max fuel quantity is reduced for takeoff.
Click to expand...
It can fly off any stretch of farmer's field or dirt road.

Have a couple of H47s drop fuel bladders at the spot the QRF is hanging out.

As I understand the CONOPS, OA1s are flying overwatch over specific missions, not just orbiting around looking for trouble. If you need persistent ISR, you have Reapers and other drones. But when the SEALs/Rangers/Delta go in and stomp people, that's when the OA1s are overhead. Instead of or in addition to AC130s.
 
Wes O'Donell has put out a video about the Skyraider II:


The U.S. Air Force just dusted off the propeller playbook and said, “Yeah, we’re doing this again.” Meet the OA-1K Skyraider II, a rugged, ugly, low-tech beast that’s about as far from the F-35 as you can get. And that’s the point.
Click to expand...
This isn’t about stealth or supercruise. This is about showing up every single time, even when the runway is a goat path and the nearest Starbucks is 400 miles away. Born from Air Tractor and upgraded by L3Harris, the Skyraider II is the love child of a crop duster and a warplane, and Special Operations Command is very interested.
Click to expand...
Actually, Ukraine just did the same thing with one of their crop dusters by arming it with AA-11 Archer missiles!
Click to expand...
In this video, I break down:
• Why the Pentagon is betting on a tailwheel aircraft in 2025 (spoiler: test pilots had to relearn how to fly like it was 1944).
• The Skyraider II’s weapons loadout: 14 precision APKWS II rockets, Hellfires, and a sensor suite sharp enough to track, lase, and strike all at once.
• How it’s designed for low-cost, persistent overwatch in places like Somalia, Yemen, or eastern Ukraine, anywhere the shiny jets are too expensive or too fragile.
• Why naming it after the Vietnam-era Skyraider isn’t just nostalgia, it’s a warning shot to enemies who underestimate low-tech warhorses.
Click to expand...
 
I've come here again to give this plane some appreciation.

This plane apparently costs 40 million per air frame but with an hourly operating cost in the low thousands. Can possibly get on a similar order of operational footprint as YFQ-42, but far more useful for C-UAS.

Apparently takes under 6 - 7 hours to reassemble.

Theoretically a single airframe might fit in two 40ft ISO containers At worst, you can still get a single plane onto a MASC USV (4 40ft ISO containers.

Keep the EO/IR pod, drop the radar and SAR/GMTI pod and you might be able to carry 3 APKWS pods.

You have the loiter, the munitions and speed to slap drones out of the air, and or do recon, ISR and coastal patrols. It can take off and land just about anywhere - on a dirt road or a beach.

You can play local air controller by networking with other CCAs and drones given the comms packages this thing has.

It really can be an ideal and critical asset for fighting drone swarms
 
EmoBirb said:
Not what it was designed for.
Click to expand...

I know. That was actually the point of my post.

I was responding to Reddington777's post suggesting using it against drone swarms. Drone swarms usually exist in an environment with other active air defenses, where the OA-1K isn't going to be survivable.
 
TomS said:
I don't think it's viable in any environment where there are also credible air defense assets on the other side.
Click to expand...
There's plenty of places drones are headed to where there aren't credible defense assets. A lot of long range attack drones fly long distances towards their targets and those are rarely in places that have significant enemy anti air. It's also terrain dependent. As long as it's not in a place with enemy air cover and it has sufficient terrain masking, then it's a cheap and viable enough platform - even if it wasn't built for it.
 
Reddington777 said:
There's plenty of places drones are headed to where there aren't credible defense assets. A lot of long range attack drones fly long distances towards their targets and those are rarely in places that have significant enemy anti air. It's also terrain dependent. As long as it's not in a place with enemy air cover and it has sufficient terrain masking, then it's a cheap and viable enough platform - even if it wasn't built for it.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see what you mean. Maybe cases like the Saudi oil refineries.

The problem with the OA-1K for what is essentially homeland defense is speed. You still need to get into position to use those low-cost interceptors and that argues for something a bit faster than a crop duster. LIFT might be suitable though.
 
TomS said:
Ah, I see what you mean. Maybe cases like the Saudi oil refineries.

The problem with the OA-1K for what is essentially homeland defense is speed. You still need to get into position to use those low-cost interceptors and that argues for something a bit faster than a crop duster. LIFT might be suitable though.
Click to expand...
Quite frankly, we're getting to the point where helicopters are as fast as the Skyraider II. Or the OG Skyraider for that matter.

Both have a ~175kt cruise. The OG is 65kts faster when clean, though.

I know I'd greatly prefer a LIFT for the Air Policing role, not least because it'll have a lookdown radar installed instead of depending on a trio of EO eyeballs.


TomcatViP said:
The original Skyraider would indeed fare better.
Click to expand...
I dunno, depends on how much they slow down when both have rocket pods under the wings.
 

Facebook

www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

"USAF OA-1K Skyraider II down in Oklahoma City. They did hit an electric pole on the way down, sparking a small grass fire, and there is a stop sign on the leading edge of the left wing.

This is developing, but I was able to see the pilots walking around and appear to be okay. Details of the emergency landing are unknown."
 

Attachments

  • FB_IMG_1761253051060.jpg
    FB_IMG_1761253051060.jpg
    150.3 KB · Views: 61
Manuducati said:

Facebook

www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

"USAF OA-1K Skyraider II down in Oklahoma City. They did hit an electric pole on the way down, sparking a small grass fire, and there is a stop sign on the leading edge of the left wing.

This is developing, but I was able to see the pilots walking around and appear to be okay. Details of the emergency landing are unknown."
Click to expand...
Not the first Crop Duster to have this problem.
 
yasotay said:
Anti-UAS interceptor?
Click to expand...
Border patrols to react to events like Oct 7th.
I personally believe this is not a good decision. The primary obstacles to employment of mass fires were the very short distances involved (few hundred meters between Gaza and Israeli communities), and disruption of Israeli C2. Both factors will also affect any aerial platform as well.
 
Scott Kenny said:
Nope.

There's more than a few crop shops with an entire leading edge of an Air Tractor with a stop sign wrapped around it on display.
Click to expand...
Seeing the 'dashcam' video of the aircraft barely missing cars on a highway, I suspect lose of engine power led to the demise of the stop sign.
 
Scott Kenny said:
Quite frankly, we're getting to the point where helicopters are as fast as the Skyraider II. Or the OG Skyraider for that matter.

Both have a ~175kt cruise. The OG is 65kts faster when clean, though.

I know I'd greatly prefer a LIFT for the Air Policing role, not least because it'll have a lookdown radar installed instead of depending on a trio of EO eyeballs.



I dunno, depends on how much they slow down when both have rocket pods under the wings.
Click to expand...
An AT-6 version with radar, might be a better option. Much faster and still just as cheap to operate.
 
That was hot. :eek:
Great piloting skills... And great driving too!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1981570408102216065
View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1981570408102216065

Edit:
Adding an overhead picture of the crash site to give an idea of pilot intended trajectory.

AA1P7DQA.img
 
Last edited:
Desertfox said:
An AT-6 version with radar, might be a better option. Much faster and still just as cheap to operate.
Click to expand...
Just had an odd thought. The Skyraider II has 3x EO eyeballs, which means it's got a pretty significant electrical supply as is. Would it be possible to replace the EOTS on one side with say an old APG-66 or whatever out of an F-16?
 
Scott Kenny said:
Just had an odd thought. The Skyraider II has 3x EO eyeballs, which means it's got a pretty significant electrical supply as is. Would it be possible to replace the EOTS on one side with say an old APG-66 or whatever out of an F-16?
Click to expand...
Shooting the radar beam through the prop?

You got the bucks, we've got the E.O./STC. Or if you have friends at the FSDO, you just want to do a Form 337?
 
CJGibson said:
Couldn't find a decent GA, so had a go.

ChrisView attachment 789340
Click to expand...
There should be a single EO eyeball on the right wing as well as the dual on the left.


aim9xray said:
Shooting the radar beam through the prop?
Click to expand...
Yeah, you'd need to gate out returns that close from the upper left quadrant.


aim9xray said:
You got the bucks, we've got the E.O./STC. Or if you have friends at the FSDO, you just want to do a Form 337?
Click to expand...
I suspect the prototype goes on a 337, then the production gets a
 
Scott Kenny said:
There should be a single EO eyeball on the right wing as well as the dual on the left.



Yeah, you'd need to gate out returns that close from the upper left quadrant.
Click to expand...

We talked a little more about loads and configuration at the link below. The I-Master radar that it part of the MMSS Pod 2 has nominal 360-degree coverage (though I bet there is some blanking from the pod and airframe). But it is purely a surface surveillance radar (GMTI, SAR, and change detection). It's only 30 kg (self-contained), making it really unlikely that a much larger air intercept set would fit in a similar pod.

Post in thread 'L3Harris OA-1K Skyraider II (USSOCOM Armed Overwatch)' https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/th...-ii-ussocom-armed-overwatch.46110/post-545445
 
TomcatViP said:
With the US rumored to be next opening a new permanent base in Southern Syria, probably that the Skyraider II will have a new nest (a complete supposition by myself) :

Click to expand...
I'd honestly expect A-10s to be based there long before the Skyraider IIs.

Remember, there's only a couple dozen Skyraider IIs planned. Also, the Skyraider IIs are an AFSOC asset, not general USAF for support.
 
TomS said:
Current plan is for the A-10 fleet to retire next year.
Click to expand...
..thinks u might want to attempt to discern exactly what Congress said recently or didn't say ..not so simple.
 
TomS said:
Current plan is for the A-10 fleet to retire next year.
Click to expand...
That does not change my statement.

USAF does not have to operate A-10s. In fact, I kinda expect several nations to put in bids to buy the "surplus" A-10s and their dedicated support equipment. Nations that are or want to be US friends that have a rebel problem the A-10 could help deal with.
 
Manuducati said:

Facebook

www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

"USAF OA-1K Skyraider II down in Oklahoma City. They did hit an electric pole on the way down, sparking a small grass fire, and there is a stop sign on the leading edge of the left wing.

This is developing, but I was able to see the pilots walking around and appear to be okay. Details of the emergency landing are unknown."
Click to expand...
This when the pole jumped out in front of him?
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom