rustingbridges:

SOCCOM apparently buying 75 Air Tractors for ??? reasons

to be clear, we’re talking about this bad boy:

described as “an American agricultural aircraft that may also be adapted into fire-fighting or armed versions“.

lots of militaries apparently fly them, but mostly in firefighting and other noncombat roles. unless SOCCOM is planning to get into wildfire management, tho, I have got to wonder what exactly they are planning to do here

Short take-off and landing from unpaved fields, built for terrain-following and low-altitude maneuvers, sturdy and can survive low-speed crashes, they’ll be easily adapted as counterinsurgency attack planes for use in Third World theaters where the bad guys don’t have anti-air capabilities.