The Air Force now has 18 new light attack aircraft that are designed to support special operations forces on the ground, and it expects to receive “a handful more” by October, said Lt. Col. Robert Wilson, of Air Force Special Operations Command, or AFSOC.
The single-engine turboprop OA-1K Skyraider II is “essentially a Swiss Army Knife of airborne capability,” that can fly armed reconnaissance, close air support, and precision strike missions, said Wilson, AFSOC’s armed overwatch requirements branch chief.
The Skyraider is designed to support operations that range from counter-terrorism to “aspects of full-on conflict,” Wilson told reporters on Friday. It is capable of carrying weapons, including Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, or APKWS, laser-guided rockets, and the plane also has rails and pylons on its wings so it can be equipped with more advanced weapons and sensors in the future.
One weapon that AFSOC officials are looking to possibly arm the Skyraider II with is the Red Wolf cruise missile, Wilson said.
Air Force Special Operations Command is still in the process of training OA-1K pilots and crews, said Wilson, who added that the Skyraider II is expected to fly its first combat missions “in the coming years.” He declined to say exactly when that might be.
“I can’t get too specific in terms of operationally when it will employ,” Wilson said. “There’s obviously a sequence in terms of developmental test, operational test, and then employment. So, we’re looking for in the coming years, and it will be dependent on that sequence and how that unfolds.”
At the moment, AFSOC is in the process of conducting tests and exercises that involve disassembling the Skyraider II so it can be transported quickly and then reassembled in theater, Wilson said. That process is expected to last into next year.
“With rapid disassembly and reassembly, OA-1K can be loaded into mobility aircraft like a C-5 or C-17 for rapid worldwide deployment, supporting missions around the world at a moment’s notice,” Wilson said. “Importantly, we’re talking a matter of hours instead of days or weeks that it would have otherwise required to fly around the world wherever it needs to go,” Wilson said.
Currently, the Skyraider IIs are flying out of Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, Oklahoma, and eventually the aircraft will fly missions from Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, Wilson said.
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The Air Force announced last year that the aircraft’s name pays tribute to the legendary A-1 Skyraider, which flew combat missions in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
The plane is a modified version of the AT-802U Sky Warden attack aircraft designed to make short takeoffs and landings at austere airfields. U.S. Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, is purchasing the Skyraider II as part of its Armed Overwatch program, which initially called for purchasing 75 of the aircraft.
But due to “resource constraints and competing priorities,” a total of 53 Skyraider IIs are funded under President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2027, according to AFSOC public affairs.
“The 75 quantity figure is the program record,” Wilson said. “I would say, as the capability sponsor, less than 75 is not desirable. We would like to see it at the program record of 75, but just, just being pragmatic, obviously, with resource constraints that could potentially limit the program less than that.”
