In what is a new piece of bad news for the acquisition program of the new OA-1K Skyraider II attack aircraft, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) has decided to cut for the second consecutive year the number of aircraft planned to be incorporated into its fleets, bringing that number down to half of what had been stipulated up to this point. According to what is put forward by U.S. analysts, the decision is made with the aim of redirecting resources toward platforms intended for high-level combat, this to the detriment of combat against insurgent groups for which the aforementioned aircraft was designed.
Putting it into concrete numbers, the institution had planned to acquire 12 OA-1K Skyraider II aircraft for the 2026 fiscal year, a number that is now reduced to just 6 units. It is worth recalling in that regard, that for the 2025 fiscal year the U.S. Air Force had already taken a similar measure concerning the reduction of the fleet of aircraft to be purchased, bringing its order from 15 to 12 planes.
In a brief reference to this, Lieutenant Commander Kassie Collins, who currently serves as spokesperson for the U.S. Special Operations Command, stated in an interview given to local specialized media: “The acquisition of the OA-1K aircraft has been reduced due to the shortage of resources.” It is useful to remember that the platforms in question, based on civilian Air Tractor aircraft, are specially designed for light attack missions, close support for special operations, and reconnaissance.
It is also worth bringing up at this point, that the official requirement from the U.S. Special Operations Command was for a total of 75 AT-802U aircraft modified by the company L3Harris to carry out the tasks listed above, this platform being the winner of the Armed Overwatch program. However, as of current dates the budgetary documents presented reflect only 45 aircraft under contract including those ordered for 2026, with deliveries expected through 2028; for 2027 there is no confirmation as to whether that number will once again be reduced.
For now, it must be mentioned that the U.S. Air Force accepted earlier this year its first operational OA-1K aircraft, this in the town of Hurlburt Field, Florida. The matter is by no means minor, considering that according to the original plans of the program, the first units were supposed to reach the institution in 2023. Once again quoting Lieutenant Commander Collins, the USAF would currently have 8 Skyraiders available, with 6 more expected to arrive this same year.
*Images used for illustrative purposes
You may also like: The U.S. Air Force’s new F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets are deployed for the first time in Japan
