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Business Insider
09-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
We got an up-close look at the new Skyraider II light attack plane that maker L3Harris says can land almost anywhere
US Air Force Special Operations Command got its first mission-ready Skyraider II attack plane last month, and this week, Business Insider got an up-close look at the new light attack plane at SOF Week 2025 in Tampa, Florida. Air Tractor and L3Harris' AT-802U Sky Warden, designated the OA-1K Skyraider II by AFSOC in reference to the A-1 Skyraiders of the Korean and Vietnam wars, is an armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, close-air support, and strike aircraft that L3Harris says can land almost anywhere. The new light attack aircraft is a militarized variant of the Air Tractor AT-802 long used for civilian work like agriculture. Here's what it looks like: The Air Force describes the Skyraider II as a flexible aircraft that can be adjusted for different missions and fights, noting that it has a much more manageable maintenance demand and a lower cost per flight hour than other AFSOC aircraft. Like its legendary predecessor, the new Skyraider was built for armed overwatch and attack in permissive environments, though the battlespace is not what it once was, and there are questions about its role in a high-intensity fight in the Indo-Pacific. Jon Rambeau, the president of integrated mission systems at L3Harris, said the Sky Warden is a "versatile" platform and "costs a fraction of what you might pay for a fighter jet." Just how much the planes cost is a detail that isn't publicly available. Rambeau and Clint Logwood, L3Harris' director of flight tests and flight operations, said one of Skyraider II's most important attributes is its ability to operate in different environments. It can also land just about anywhere with a limited logistics footprint. "This thing could land anywhere," Logwood said, from rugged and remote airfields to highways. The Air Force has prioritized flexibility, specifically the ability to operate in austere environments and off of unconventional runways like roadways. Fixed airfields and bases are easy targets, especially in the Indo-Pacific where US forces have to contend with China's growing missile force, but an adversary can't target every piece of concrete in the region. Logwood, who has put many hours of testing the aircraft's capabilities, G-force, speed, temperature, and altitude, said: "We have landed this aircraft on some fields that would jar your teeth, and this aircraft just says, 'That's all you got?'" The Sky Warden has "plug and play technology," he said. It has a modular design, which means new systems can be quickly integrated into the aircraft. There are ten hardpoints capable of carrying a range of weapons and other technologies. While there are two seats in the Sky Warden, it's a single-pilot aircraft in which all of its systems are designed to be accessible by one person and easy to learn. And its cost-per-hour of flight, Rambeau said, is less than $1,000 per hour, one of the cheaper cost estimates of the Air Force's fleet. He added that L3Harris was in conversation with potential international customers across the world as well. Below the wings of the Sky Warden, Logwood noted, were its dummy AGM 114 Hellfire missiles, as well as ISR sensors and arrays. If another mission pod is needed, it can be bolted and connected to the plane. The Sky Warden can be dissembled in under six hours and fit inside a C-17 cargo aircraft. The program was originally contracted for 75 aircraft in a $3 billion deal; in 2023 and 2024, the Government Accountability Office issued reports urging the Pentagon to reconsider the number of aircraft needed, citing concerns the program wouldn't be as valuable as the US shifts from decades of counterterrorism operations featuring air superiority to near-peer adversary fights. Rambeau cited the aircraft's potential international sales as examples "to dispel the thought that this is only applicable for counterinsurgency," saying that those customers were looking at the aircraft for a variety of purposes. While Sky Warden is capable of taking off and landing almost anywhere, Rambeau and Logwood said it would need to be modified for carrier-based operations. The aircraft requires a distance of about 1,200 feet. For fighters and bombers, the required runway length tends to be thousands of feet. The original Skyraider earned its legendary reputation by protecting downed airmen in Vietnam. Unlike jets that couldn't stay in the area, the Skyraiders could loiter for long periods of time and bring massive firepower for continuous suppressing fire until helicopters could come in for rescue operations. Skyraider pilot Maj. Bernard Fisher famously landed his plane through withering enemy fire at a battle-scarred airstrip littered with debris and destroyed aircraft, rescued a downed airman, and flew back out after taking multiple hits to his aircraft during a 1966 fight at Ashau. Fisher received the Medal of Honor for his actions. The Air Force is hoping the new Skyraiders will provide the same kind of exceptional support for troops in future fights.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
See the new warplane shown off during Special Operations Forces Week
The Brief The Sky Warden Skyraider 2 is a relatively small, single-wing airplane that's armed to the teeth to meet any threat. It's one of many battlefield technologies being shown off at Special Operations Forces Week. The plane is built with the engine and other systems that have been previously used for years on its crop-dusting cousin, but with special avionics and weapons systems installed. TAMPA, Fla. - L3 Harris test pilot Clint Logwood lives in St. Petersburg. He's showing off his company's new warplane close to home, in Tampa, during SOF Week: The Sky Warden Skyraider 2. It's a relatively small, single-wing airplane that's armed to the teeth to meet any threat. It can also land and take-off in a cow pasture. READ: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at Special Operations Forces Week event in Tampa "I'm qualified in 88 different aircraft, and this is by far the most fun," smiled Logwood. Big picture view It's one of many battlefield technologies being shown off at Special Operations Forces Week. A prime audience for the event is U.S. Special Operations Command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base. Nimble and new battlefield technology is top on their wish list. That's what L3Harris has installed in the Skyraider 2. Follow FOX 13 on YouTube "The sensors, the technology is amazing," said Logwood. "We can see from 25,000 feet and read your name tag anywhere in the world." Dig deeper The plane is built with the engine and other systems that have been previously used for years on its crop-dusting cousin, but with special avionics and weapons systems installed. L3 Harris' Systems President Jon Rambeau said it's perfect for close-in air support and reconnaissance missions and specifically designed for missions faced by special operators. MORE:Palm Harbor WWII veteran finds comfort in new mission at 100 years old: 'Life is golden' Rambeau said it's far less expensive than a jet fighter and can be easily stowed in a transport plane to be delivered for missions around the globe. He said SOCOM could have 12 of the planes by this time next year. Rambeau said the Skyraider 2 could also be purchased by U.S. allies. The cost per plane was not announced. The Source The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Lloyd Sowers. WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
L3Harris unveils Amorphous autonomy software to manage drone swarms
L3Harris on Monday unveiled a software platform, Amorphous, for controlling large swarms of uncrewed systems across multiple domains, allowing aerial drones, ships and other platforms to operate together seamlessly. The software is designed with an open architecture to be platform-agnostic and scalable. To date, the company has demonstrated the ability to connect multiple systems, but it envisions Amorphous eventually managing thousands of payloads — a key requirement for the U.S. Defense Department as it looks to better integrate uncrewed systems into operations. Jon Rambeau, president of integrated mission systems at L3Harris, told reporters in a briefing last week the company's vision is for Amorphous to serve as an orchestra conductor, helping operators command and control autonomous systems. 'One of the big problems that has yet to be solved is, how do you think about the control of, not 10, not 100, not even 1,000, but thousands of assets simultaneously,' Rambeau said. 'That's really not something that's possible to do with human control only.' While some concepts for autonomous command-and-control rely on a 'mothership,' a single platform serving as the brains of a fleet of uncrewed systems, L3Harris envisions Amorphous coordinating a 'leaderless swarm,' according to Toby Magsig, vice president and general manager of enterprise autonomous systems. Under this approach, rather than rely on a single platform to communicate an operator's command, the entire fleet of systems would share the message and deconflict on which platform would perform which parts of the mission. This alleviates some of the mission risk should the mothership lose its communication link or be shot down, Magsig said in the same briefing. Amorphous has already made its debut in prototypes the company is developing for various Pentagon programs, including Replicator, and has its roots in work the L3Harris has done for the Navy's Project Overmatch and Army Research Laboratory experimentation. For Replicator — the Pentagon's high-profile effort to field thousands of uncrewed systems by next August — L3Harris was selected in November alongside Anduril Industries and Swarm Aero to demonstrate the ability to coordinate hundreds or thousands of platforms through an effort called Autonomous Collaborative Teaming. Managed by the Defense Innovation Unit, the program is looking for software that can be upgraded iteratively and can run on any hardware system. Rambeau said the company recognizes the need for open architecture and has demonstrated Amorphous can integrate with a variety of platforms. He also noted that L3Harris worked with several smaller firms to support the software's user interface and autonomy algorithms. 'A truly open architecture with published interfaces that anybody can plug into is going to be a really critical element of success,' he said. 'That's one of the things that we put into this design.' Magsig declined to offer much detail on the Replicator demonstrations that Amorphous has supported, but said the software has been involved in a few events and 'there's many more to go.'
