Air Force Chief: Light Attack is About More than Hardware, It’s a Boon for Intelligence Networks
Air Force Chief: Light Attack is About More than Hardware, It’s a Boon for Intelligence Networks by Kyle Rempfer – Air Force Times
Many have interpreted the Air Force’s OA-X light-attack experiment as something solely focused on acquiring a cost-effective close-air support aircraft for U.S. forces entangled in low-intensity conflicts.
But in reality, the program is also being crafted to increase the capabilities of partner nations across the world.
When a nation wants to join the United States in operations against insurgent forces, but can’t afford a high-end fighter aircraft, a light-attack plane coupled with an information networking package is what the U.S. Air Force can offer them, according to Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein.
“That platform — a small, commercial, off-the-shelf [aircraft] — we actually already have those,” Goldfein told Air Force Times. “If I hear one thing from my international air chiefs, it’s ‘we need to figure out how to share information both ways.’ ”
The real question, Goldfein said, is: “How do I improve my ability to share with folks who now join us so they can strengthen not only our military capability but our moral authority?”…
