By Emelie Rutherford
The Air Force is planning to conduct an analysis of a light-attack aircraft envisioned for potential purchase by Iraq, though that nation has expressed a preference for F-16 fighter jets, an official said.
Lt. Gen. Mark Shackelford, military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, told reporters at a Pentagon roundtable last Thursday that “there are obviously a number of industry competitors out there that would like to present their best option” for a light-attack platform.
Defense officials are considering the development of such an aircraft for a foreign-military sale to Iraq and, further in the future, Afghanistan, he said.
The Air Force plans to conduct an analysis of alternatives (AoA) that will weigh issues such as “whether we go in a light-attack direction ourselves and how much we want to build partnership capability” with a foreign buyer, Shackelford said.
“That becomes part of the equation when we’re trying to decide what we want to move forward with as far as the platform is concerned,” he added.
The light-attack aircraft also could be used by a potential future counter-insurgency wing in the Air Force, he said.
If defense officials can make some decisions in the near future on any desired U.S. platform and capabilities, he said, “that starts to clarify what we would try to offer to the foreign-military-sales countries that are interested in having a light-attack capability.”
While he said the Air Force would prefer to have a common platform with the foreign buyer, to aid in interoperability and training, it doesn’t want to be “rushed into a decision” if a country has “a demand for a capability sooner rather than later.”
Still, Shackelford acknowledged Iraq is sticking with plans it first expressed last year to acquire Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] high-status F-16 fighter.
“The Iraqis are less interested in light attack and more interested in F-16s,” he said.
U.S. officials tracking Iraq’s desire for the F-16s said the nation could have difficulty lining up the funding for them. And some U.S. lawmakers who would have to approve a sale through the Foreign Military Sales process have questioned if Iraq is ready for such an advanced fighter.
U.S. military officials also have weighed transferring retired F-16s to Iraq.
To do this, Shackelford said, the Air Force would assess if it has excess inventory as well as “what we believe (the Iraqis) can deal with from a training and operations perspective.”
“It’s not straightforward to turn an aviator who has never been in a high-performance fighter into a proficient fighter pilot overnight,” he added. Deliberations are underway on how to provide the aircraft, training, and support, he said.
Iraq has indicated it would reach out to another nation, if needed, to buy an F-16 alternative.
Shackelford said the U.S. Air Force is also “refining requirements” for a light-cargo aircraft for foreign-military sales, which is “likely to be an off the shelf kind of solution.”
He said, though, he is “not overly confident that the U.S. itself will go after a light-mobility platform” and would more likely pursue one on behalf of a foreign country for delivery as early as fiscal year 2012.