In late July the U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command issued a request for information for what it calls the light attack/armed reconnaissance (LAAR) aircraft. The RFI covers the potential procurement of 100 OA-X aircraft optimized for irregular warfare missions, which could see the U.S. Air Force back in the business
of dedicated counterinsurgency (COIN) that it largely left behind in Vietnam. The last major evaluation of this class of aircraft was in 1980s, when the Piper PA-48 Enforcer was examined.
The new LAAR requirement and the idea of a COIN combat wing has arisen out of combat experience in Iraq and Afghan-istan, where the close-air support-dedicated A-10 Warthog has consistently proven itself as one of the most useful assets. The USAF argues that, while the precision guidance capability and connectivity offered by sophisticated multi-role jets are vital when fighting insurgents, the high performance they offer is an expensive luxury. LAAR is an effort to provide the digital “goodies” and combat effectiveness of the fighter in a platform that is vastly cheaper to acquire and operate and that can perform the mission with a fraction of the ground footprint.
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