Defence contractor L3Harris appears unconcerned about the Pentagon’s move to reduce annual purchases of its new close-air support turboprop.
The US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) fiscal year 2026 budget request includes funds for just six L3Harris OA-1K Skyraider II aircraft – down by half from earlier projections. SOCOM funded 12 of the aircraft – a militarised variant of the Air Tractor AT-802 crop duster – in FY2025.
The reduction from 12 to six OA-1Ks in FY2026 represents a value of more than $156 million, according to budget documents.
The latest spending plan also notably does not include figures for a projected OA-1K buy in 2027.
However, manufacturer L3Harris is expressing confidence that new customers from overseas will emerge to offset any reductions coming from Washington.
“No concerns from our perspective,” said chief financial officer Ken Bedingfield during a 24 July quarterly earnings call.
Bedingfield notes that the reduction in planned US orders will not impact workflow at the OA-1K assembly line in Waco, Texas, which is currently in low-rate initial production under SOCOM’s Armed Overwatch programme.
“We’ve got plenty of aircraft in order and I think we’ve got a good delivery cadence on that,” he says. “And maybe more importantly, we’re seeing a fair amount of international opportunity for Armed Overwatch.”
While Bedingfield does not disclose the identity of potential buyers, L3Harris told FlightGlobal in May it is in the advanced stages of negotiating OA-1K sales with three potential customers.
Jon Rambeau, president of integrated mission systems at L3Harris, said at the time that the company had centred its pitch on the aircraft’s ruggedness and low operating cost, which is less than $1,000 per flight hour, according to L3Harris.
“We think there’s applicability for the aircraft across multiple different customer sets,” Rambeau told FlightGlobal in May.
In 2024, L3Harris said it had secured export approval for 12 countries from US regulators, with another dozen under review.
Despite the company’s confidence, the future of the Armed Overwatch fleet remains uncertain.
L3Harris developed the aircraft for SOCOM’s Armed Overwatch programme, which sought to deliver a low-cost close air support and reconnaissance platform capable of operating from rugged and austere air strips. The company’s bid was selected as the winner of that competition in 2022, with an expected programme of record covering 75 aircraft.
Government auditors have criticised SOCOM’s acquisition plan, noting the OA-1K’s low survivability against modern anti-air weapons.
Hitting back, special operations leaders at the Pentagon argue they need a dedicated close air-support platform that can affordably and reliably back up forces operating in conflict zones on the margins of the new Great Power competition between the USA, Russia and China.
“That’s obviously much more cost-effective than trying to get a stack of [Lockheed Martin] F-16s, and AWACS and… [Boeing F-15] Strike Eagles up there,” US Air Force (USAF) Colonel Justin Bronder, head of SOCOM’s fixed-wing aircraft procurement office, said in May.
The three-star head of special operations for the USAF, Lieutenant General Michael Conley, also told FlightGlobal in May that he still supports plans to field the entire fleet of 75 Skyraider IIs.
“Once we field operational crews in the next few years, I think we will find ways to employ it,” Conley says. “Maybe ways we’re not even thinking about yet.”
L3Harris turned over the first operationally configured OA-1K to the air force in April, with the full complement excepted by 2029.
The company aims to ramp up capacity over the coming years to hit a production rate 16 of the modified turboprops annually.
