Low-cost Warplanes See Rising PopularityJune 15, 2009

 

Sleek and fast is out — lumbering is in at the Paris Air Show.

Aerospace and defense companies are tapping into the growing appeal of low-cost planes that can be loaded up with surveillance gear and weapons. This comes at a time when the Pentagon is cutting programs that build its fastest and most expensive jet fighters, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal.

One of the showstoppers was the Air Truck AT-802U prototype manufactured by Air Tractor Inc., of Olney, Texas. The plane is essentially a two-seat, combat-ready crop-duster loaded with weapons. It can carry 8,000 pounds of missiles, rockets, cannons and bombs.

"One of the things people are most surprised by is all the munitions hanging off of it," Lee Jackson, an Air Tractor design engineer, told the Journal.

Air Tractor's Air Truck tops out at about 210 miles per hour. It is not intended to replace the Air Force's F-22 Raptor. In fact, without the F-22 keeping enemy planes at bay, the Air Tractor could not operate effectively in a war zone.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to end production of the F-22 and has prioritized the purchase of less-expensive weapons systems, making such planes increasingly attractive.

Other companies showing off their low-end planes packed with surveillance gear include L-3 Communications Holdings based in New York and Alliant Techsystems based in Minneapolis. Executives at the companies told the Journal that the demand for real-time battlefield intelligence is vital for the U.S. military as it increases the size of its force in Afghanistan.

"There's an unabated appetite" for battlefield intelligence and surveillance, said L-3 chairman and chief executive Michael Strianese. "That unblinking eye is becoming more and more critical."

Another plus to these slower planes is that they require smaller airfields for take-off and landing, allowing them to be based closer to the fight.

The low-cost of these planes would also allow the U.S. to offer them to the Iraqi and Afghan air forces to help fight insurgents, according to the article.