US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is cutting its procurement target for the new L3Harris OA-1K close air support turboprop nearly 20%.
A programme review released by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) on 5 September reveals that SOCOM has cut its planned fleet size for the new type to 62 aircraft, down from the original goal of 75 – a reduction of 17%.
The change was apparently made in March although not previously disclosed by SOCOM.
In an earlier audit of the programme – known as Armed Overwatch – the GAO, an independent government auditing agency, criticised the US Department of Defense (DoD) for failing to justify an OA-1K fleet of size of 75 aircraft. OA-1Ks are militarised versions of Air Tractor’s AT-802 crop duster.
“Analysis wasn’t completed before DoD decided to buy the planes,” the GAO said in December 2023. “DoD’s special operations mission requirements have also changed in recent years, and it hasn’t evaluated if it still needs all 75 planes.”
That analysis remains uncompleted, according to the latest GAO review. While the full report is classified and was not released publicly, a limited summary of the findings was made available to the public.
According to the summary, SOCOM plans to spend $2 billion through 2030 (the Pentagon’s fiscal year 2029) on Armed Overwatch acquisition. When L3Harris won the competitive contract in 2022, the total value was estimated at up to $3 billion.
Some 85% of the programme’s total budget will be spent prior to the completion of testing in 2026, the GAO now says, with a full-rate production decision following later that year.
The GAO remains critical of the approach, saying moving forward without adequate analysis leaves the Pentagon at risk of buying too many aircraft that lack desired capabilities or necessary support.
“Such testing would enable the department to determine how the aircraft could be used,” the GAO adds.
In particular, the agency appears critical of SOCOM’s plan to divest existing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms in favour of the OA-1K, which military officials say is meant to serve primarily in close-air support roles.
“It’s not a replacement for any ISR platforms,” Colonel Justin Bronder said at the annual Special Operations Forces Week conference in May.
Bronder manages the SOCOM office handling fixed-wing aircraft procurement. The command operates its own independent acquisition system within the Pentagon.
As part of the Armed Overwatch procurement, SOCOM plans to divest two legacy reconnaissance-only aircraft, including the Pilatus U-28A turboprop, using those resources to support the OA-1K.
But the GAO remains sceptical that the Armed Overwatch programme will deliver an aircraft capable of adequately replacing the ISR capability.
“SOCOM has not taken steps to plan for or add critical ISR capabilities provided by soon-to-be divested aircraft,” the latest report says. “SOCOM has not addressed risks associated with the loss of these capabilities if the new aircraft does not provide them.”
SOCOM’s procurement office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The GAO also previously raised questions about the operational suitability of low-altitude, low-speed turboprops at a time the Pentagon is broadly shifting focus toward countering modern industrial adversaries like Russia and China that have large stocks of precision anti-aircraft missiles.
Bronder countered that critique in May, saying OA-1Ks would operate in “conflict on the margins” of the so-called “great-power competition” between Western allies and the authoritarian bloc led by Russia and China.
L3Harris confirmed to FlightGlobal on 6 September that it delivered the first two OA-1K trainer aircraft in June, which are currently being used to certify test pilots on the new type.
“We have completed modification on the first production aircraft, which is in the testing phase,” L3Harris says. “We also have eight aircraft in work at our Tulsa production facility.”
While the company did not provide an exact date for the turn over of the first operational aircraft, it says the programme is “on track” and that aircraft will be delivered following the completion of certification activities.
At the SOF Week conference in May, L3Harris president of ISR Jason Lambert told FlightGlobal the company planned to deliver the first operational aircraft by year-end. L3Harris has been completing OA-1K flight testing and certification in Waco, Texas, while final assembly takes place Tulsa, Oklahoma.
