Sat, May 08, 2021
Intelligence, Surveillance And Reconnaissance Aircraft Is Based On The Air Tractor AT-802
A large new aircraft has been built up out of what started life as an AT-802U Sky Warden airframe. The job... to take on airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and other missions in extreme combat environments.
Sky Warden is part of a partnership between L3Harris Technologies and Air Tractor, and reportedly features the largest payload capacity of any single engine turboprop aircraft.
The multi-mission platform provides the operator the capability to identify, track and react to counter threats. It merges the capabilities of larger ISR and armed aircraft into one package. It is also capable of takeoff and landing on unimproved airstrips – allowing the aircraft to be deployed and co-located with special mission operators.
“Air Tractor aircraft were developed precisely to operate in austere environments with limited infrastructure,” said Jim Hirsch, President, Air Tractor, Inc. “Our aircraft are built to offer unparalleled flexibility, essential ingredients for special mission operators.”
“Our mission systems, platforms, direct operators and sustainment teams have supported more than 1.3 million combat hours of special operations ISR and attack missions in the past 10 years,” said Luke Savoie, President, Aviation Services, L3Harris. “Combining that experience with Air Tractor, one of the largest turboprop aircraft OEMs in the world, enables our team to design and provide a mature platform capable of operating anywhere in the world and provides the tools needed to support any mission.”
Sky Warden’s name commemorates two multi-mission special operations combat platforms. It merges the deep history of the Vietnam era A-1E Sky Raider with the present-day U-28, which uses the callsign “Warden” during combat operations. Sky Warden combines their heritage and capabilities to collapse the stack, providing one aircraft capable of multiple mission roles.
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