Recently Flew Top Cover Missions For Three Months In The Middle East

The U.S. military has reportedly been flying top cover missions with OV-10 Bronco aircraft as part of Operation Inherent Resolve in what is described as an "experiment" with aircraft that are less expensive to operate.

The Daily Beast reports that U.S. Central Command confirmed that the aircraft flown by Naval aviators completed 134 sorties that included 120 combat missions over 82 days in May of last year.

Air Force Capt. P. Bryant Davis, a Central Command spokesman said that the goal of the missions was "to determine if properly employed turbo-prop driven aircraft… would increase synergy and improve the coordination between the aircrew and ground commander.” He also said that the military was evaluating the effectiveness of the Vietnam-era aircraft in missions currently carried out by F-15s and F/A-18s. Those aircraft cost about $40,000 per hour to fly, while the Bronco can bring the mission in at about $1,000 per hour, Davis said.

The Bronco proved itself during the Vietnam war, and surplus airplanes have been bought by foreign air forces, civilian and paramilitary operators. The Philippines used them very effectively in a counterinsurgency campaign against Islamic militants, according to the report. They have also been used by the State Department for anti-drug efforts.

The Daily Beast reports that the DoD included $20 million in its 2012 budget to deploy two OV-10s overseas as part of a broader experiment with smaller aircraft that are less expensive to operate.

Davis said the Broncos proved to be very reliable over their 82 days of combat operations. The completed 99 percent of the missions planned for them.

The two aircraft used in the experiment are now sitting on the ramp at a military airfield in North Carolina. Davis said that the DoD is analyzing the data, which will "determine if this is a valid concept that would be effective in the current battlespace.”

(USAF image)

FMI: http://www.ov-10bronco.net/usaf.cfm