Hawker Beechcraft ready to meet light attack mission
Report: Jamie Hunter
In early 2011 Hawker Beechcraft was participating in flight demonstrations related to the USAF-led Light Air Support (LAS) program. The US manufacturer is offering the AT-6B, while Embraer is in the competition with its Super Tucano, with the contract award due to be announced on June 30.
Hawker Beechcraft is deep into developing the capabilities of its AT-6B ‘Coyote’ light attack platform. While LAS comprises 20 new light turboprop strike platforms for the Afghan AF, the USAF’s associated Light Attack and Armed Reconnaissance (LAAR) program covers 15 aircraft and is part of the current FY2011 budget. The USAF is expected to purchase the 15 aircraft for stateside training requirements in support of exports. Derek Hess, Hawker Beechcraft’s director of AT-6 development programs, exclusively told Combat Aircraft: ‘As part of the ongoing LAS request for proposals we participated in a systems demonstration phase in January, where we demonstrated the key performance capabilities [of the AT-6B].’
The USAF evaluation was based out of Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, with some of the work conducted on a dirt airstrip in Truth or Consequences, in the same state, in separate time periods for the two bidders. Embraer partnered with Sierra Nevada Corporation for the flight demonstrations and, if selected, Sierra Nevada would build the Super Tucano in Jacksonville, Florida. However, the Hawker Beechcraft AT-6 enjoys the benefit of commonality with the US military’s fleet of T-6 Texan II trainers.
AT-6 test pilot Dan ‘Shaka’ Hinson led the operation for the New Mexico flights. ‘The evaluation involved three flights. The first involved aerobatics above 10,000ft and maneuvering to prove the trainer suitability of the AT-6B. The second portion was the dirt strip operations to prove the aircraft’s suitability off these fields. We did three take-offs and three landings at the strip at Truth or Consequences. It also involved a shut down and start off with no external support to prove our austere capabilities. The third flight was back to the area for simulated weapons employment and targeting system demonstration, basic air work, ILS and VOR approach to demo instrument capability. We also loaded the aircraft with two 500lb bombs and two 400-round .50-cal gun pods and demonstrated take-off and landing performance from a 6,000m runway at Albuquerque, which is at 5,000ft elevation, to prove our ‘hot and high’ performance.’
ANG assessment
Hawker Beechcraft has also been engaged in an extended period of trials with the AT-6B out of the Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Test Center (AATC) test facility in Tucson, Arizona. This work is unrelated to the LAS and LAAR requirements and relates to 2008-10 congressional funding provided to the ANG to demonstrate the capabilities of the AT-6 using industry-funded Production Representative Test Vehicles (PRTVs), AT-1 and AT-2.
The ANG trials are essentially providing an assessment of the concept of light attack and future requirements folded into a potential future light attack program. This activity has been split into two spiral phases, beginning with sensor and combat communications — this involved integrating the A-10C Thunderbolt II mission system, all of the complex sensors and MX-15, Situation Awareness Datalink (SADL), Variable Message Format UHF and ROVER C-band. The second phase comprised precision engagement, exploring various weapons capabilities well beyond the LAS program. Hess said: ‘We have just completed the first phase of that spiral and we are now in the work-up to precision weapons employment. The mantra we are using here is deep magazine, low-collateral damage, with appropriate stand-off.’
The weapons currently being tested are 2.75in rockets in a seven-shot LAU-131 launcher straight off the A-10, and the FN Herstal HMP-400 0.5in-caliber gun in two underwing pods. Hawker Beechcraft plans to extend these trials from the middle of the year to start bringing in new weapons. These will likely include small smart weapons such as the 45lb Raytheon Griffin missile, and 2.75in laser-guided rockets. Hess says: ‘The future isn’t just a .50-cal gun and 500lb munitions. The irregular warfare environment target set is very different from the conventional target set. Small smart weapons make for an incredibly flexible aircraft. The AT-6B has a digital stores management system with full Mil Std 1760 capability currently for four, and growing to all six pylons.’
Hawker Beechcraft is also keen to point out that an aircraft such as the AT-6 offers an excellent loiter capability. ‘We have increased fuel volume, making the former dry bays wet bays, which has yielded close to a 40 per cent increase in internal fuel capacity over our competition. We know that we are going to want maximum loiter time over a target area.’
Inevitably, a comparison will be drawn regarding a counter-insurgency campaign with remotely piloted air systems (RPAS) such as the Predator. Hess says: ‘Unmanned aircraft are anything but unmanned. They require an incredible level of manpower, not to mention a satellite bandwidth requirement that few nations can afford. We offer an affordable capability that provides many of the same mission capabilities in an affordable, sustainable way. We are here to integrate, not invent. We are leveraging prior US Department of Defense investments made in people, platforms and programs. The computer upgrades for the A-10C for example [and] the logistics for the T-6.’
Dan Hinson explained further about the new weapons work. ‘Dating back to 2002 we undertook weapons work for customers with the T-6 that included BDU practice bombs, HMP-400 .50-cal guns and 2.75in rockets. However, with the AT-6 now there is a big difference. Instead of manually-aimed weapons, we now have both Continuously Computed Impact Point (CCIP) and Continuously Computed Release Point (CCRP) release modes, and a head-up display and mission computer combination with demonstrated ballistic accuracy. We have also integrated the color Scorpion HMCS (Helmet-Mounted Cueing System) and we are leading that program along with the A-10 and F-16 communities. We can dive and level release attack. Last month (March) we dropped 500lb and 25lb bombs as well as ‘Willy Pete’ marking rounds. We have also flown with the BDU-33s on our six weapons stations as well as BDU-50s on Stations 2 and 5. From August we will be ground-lasing targets and then using the MX-15’s integrated laser to self-designate targets in trials at Gila Bend, Arizona.
‘We will be the first fixed-wing application for laser-guided rockets and we have four manufacturers vying to supply these: Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, BAE Systems and ATK. Flexibility is our key. We can fit JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munitions), AGM-114 Hellfire and GBU-59. As long as we have the software it’s easy to bring them all into the magazine, with only minor separations work required. We can carry six 250lb (Mk81) class weapons. We also have a fully operational laser missile warning system and we have demonstrated this capability through the integration of the AN/ALQ-213 Electronic Warfare Management System and AN/AAR-47 Missile Approach Warning System and AN/ALE-47 chaff/flare dispenser. In fact we flew two sorties from Tucson with the AATC and we went out against threat simulators.
‘We are also using the AT-6 to conduct training of Joint Terminal Attack Controllers. We have all the digital communications required and we are compatible with all JTAC systems, which might be useful if you need the flexibility to move your higher-end assets into action, while retaining a core training capability back home.
‘In our most recent ANG operational assessment, we flew 12 days with our two aircraft and in those 12 days we were scheduled to fly 82 times, and we flew 82 times. We had two maintenance personnel. In that 12 days we used 5.5 quarts of oil and a couple of tires — teaching A-10 pilots how to land the AT-6! In 116 flight hours we burned 58,000lb total fuel; that’s less than a two-ship of F-15Es takes off with on one sortie!’
Photo caption
Hawker Beechcraft’s Production Representative Test Vehicles (PRTVs) AT-1 and AT-2 during testing in Arizona. Note that both are fitted with the AN/AAR-47 Missile Approach Warning Systems. photo credit: James Haseltine
