Military systems integrator L3Harris has teamed up with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to offer a light attack aircraft to the Israeli air force.
The proposal will be based on the L3Harris Sky Warden platform, a militarised version of the Air Tractor AT-802 turboprop crop duster.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington, DC on 15 October outlining plans to collaborate on a Sky Warden derivative for the Israeli Light-Attack Aircraft programme.
Dubbed the Blue Sky Warden, the Israeli-configured version of the twin-seat armed turboprop will feature an IAI open-architecture mission computer to host Israel-specific software and capabilities.
IAI will also supply and integrate its own mission equipment and lead a flight test and airworthiness campaign with the Israeli air force and defence ministry.
“We are excited to collaborate on this important programme with L3Harris, a long-standing and trusted partner with whom we have successful partnerships on several fronts,” says Boaz Levy, chief executive of IAI.
“By combining IAI’s cutting-edge systems and expertise in mission systems integration with L3Harris’ Sky Warden platform, we are delivering a tailored solution that meets the evolving needs of the Ministry of Defence and Israeli air force,” he adds.
The Israeli air force has not previously disclosed interest in pursuing such a platform. If successful, the deal would mark the first overseas sale of the Sky Warden for L3Harris.
“This strategic partnership with IAI allows us to provide a tailored variant of our Sky Warden to meet Israel’s operational and industrial needs,” says Jon Rambeau, president of integrated mission systems for L3Harris.
In May, Rambeau told FlightGlobal that L3Harris was closing in on its first export sale of the Sky Warden.
Without naming potential customers, Rambeau noted there has been significant interest in the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific Islands.
“We think there’s applicability for the aircraft across multiple different customer sets,” Rambeau said at the annual Special Operations Forces Week conference in Tampa.
L3Harris developed the Sky Warden for the US Special Operations Command (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 is already on contract with SOCOM to deliver up to 75 Sky Warden derivatives to the US Air Force, which will operate the type under the designation OA-1K Sky Raider II.
Deliveries of the new aircraft to SOCOM’s Detachment 1 aviation test group began in April.
L3Harris plans to produce up to 12 Sky Warden aircraft per year from Waco, Texas. The company in August shifted Sky Warden/OA-1K production to Waco from its previous home in Tulsa, Oklahoma as part of an internal realignment to co-locate key company functions.
With the existing US OA-1K programme set to be fulfilled by 2029, the company has been hotly pursuing overseas customers for the converted turboprop.
The US OA-1K configuration offers nine weapons hardpoints certificated for a range of lethal strike weapons, including the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile, rocket pods for the BAE Systems Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, and GBU-12 laser-guided bombs.
The aircraft is also equipped with two L3Harris MX-series electro-optical/infrared sensors and advanced communications equipment for performing medium-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
SOCOM’s OA-1K acquisition programme has been the subject of criticism by US government auditors over concerns about survivability against modern anti-air weapons.
However, special operations leaders at the Pentagon argue they need a dedicated close air support platform that can affordably and reliably back up Washington’s commando forces operating in conflict zones on the margins of the new Great Power competition between the USA, Russia and China.
In addition to the type’s physical durability, L3Harris has also championed the Sky Warden’s low operating cost, which the company has disclosed as being below $1,000 per flight hour.
That is well below the cost of conventional jet-powered strike fighters, according to 2021 Pentagon figures.
