Military Procurement International Vol. 19, No. 7, April 1, 2009
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UNITED STATES
Super Tucanos for Navy Special Ops?
Under a program called Imminent Fury, the US Navy’s new Irregular Warfare Office has leased, tested and armed at least one Brazilian Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano turboprop aircraft, with a view to using the type as a Close Air Support (CAS) aircraft for Special Operations Forces (SOF).
According to Captain Mark Mullins, Deputy Director of the Navy’s Irregular Warfare Office, “This is a close air support, manned aircraft with a pilot and a sensor operator. The idea here is that SOF needs an organic capability that can stick with them while they’re doing their mission. We’re not buying them, we’re leasing them. That’s an important point.”
Mullins added that the idea is to put four of the aircraft into combat operations as soon as possible. “Now we’re in an operational pause, trying to figure out how to get to Phase II. We need about US$44 million,” he said.