Another thing the war in Ukraine exposed is that deploying only high end expensive gear is a bad idea. If it's so expensive the military is afraid to lose it, then it's probably not a good investment. HIMARS launchers and Challenger tanks come to mind. As well as Armata T-14 and the SU 57 on the Russian side. I'm not saying there isn't room for expensive advanced gear, but militaries are going to need to balance cost and losses, especially in the age of drones.
Having a fleet of small, inexpensive planes available to augment large expensive aircraft seems to make a lot of sense to me. Many of the modern European planes that are smaller and lighter than the American planes are not selling well, which is a shame and poor doctrine IMHO.
What actually happened is that this thing was the opposite of radical: it was obsolete. Low altitude gun runs are a fantastic way to eat a shoulder fired SAM.
Meanwhile, low threat COIN ops can get by with off the shelf aircraft wired up with rockets.
There was no need to a bespoke, small batch aircraft like this. It sat in the no man's land between cheap COIN turboprops and a high flying fast mover. That they bothered to armor this thing just shows how confused it was.
Another thing the war in Ukraine exposed is that deploying only high end expensive gear is a bad idea. If it's so expensive the military is afraid to lose it, then it's probably not a good investment. HIMARS launchers and Challenger tanks come to mind. As well as Armata T-14 and the SU 57 on the Russian side. I'm not saying there isn't room for expensive advanced gear, but militaries are going to need to balance cost and losses, especially in the age of drones.
Having a fleet of small, inexpensive planes available to augment large expensive aircraft seems to make a lot of sense to me. Many of the modern European planes that are smaller and lighter than the American planes are not selling well, which is a shame and poor doctrine IMHO.
Why develop it from zero if you can buy it ready?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embraer_EMB_314_Super_Tucano
What actually happened is that this thing was the opposite of radical: it was obsolete. Low altitude gun runs are a fantastic way to eat a shoulder fired SAM.
Meanwhile, low threat COIN ops can get by with off the shelf aircraft wired up with rockets.
There was no need to a bespoke, small batch aircraft like this. It sat in the no man's land between cheap COIN turboprops and a high flying fast mover. That they bothered to armor this thing just shows how confused it was.
Looks like an A-10...