AFSOC to test Skyraider II rapid breakdown capability in operational environment this year

TAMPA, Fla. — Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) will begin testing its “rapid” breakdown disassembly and reassembly capability for the OA-1K Skyraider II aircraft in an operational environment later this year, according to the colonel in charge of the program. 

“We have demonstrated this capability by doing a timed disassembly and reassembly in a controlled environment and a hangar. We will next look to conduct the activity in an actual mobility aircraft during our operational test later this calendar year,”  Lt. Col. Robert Wilson, AFSOC’s Armed Overwatch Requirements Branch Chief, told a group of reporters ahead of the annual SOF Week exposition. 

“Then we’ll also look to conduct a rapid disassembly and reassembly as part of exercises, likely next year, because just like anything else, the more reps and sets that we accomplish, the more ready we will be whenever we need to conduct it operationally,” he continued. 

The Skyraiders have three main mission sets, Wilson explained: intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, close air support, and precision strike operations. 

“The OA-1K represents a new era for AFSOC, with the flexibility to support not only counterterrorism-like missions, but also crisis and contingency response, competition with more advanced adversaries, and even aspects of full-on conflict to meet this wide range of mission sets,” Wilson said. 

In regard to the breakdown capability, it allows airmen to take apart and put back together the Skyraiders in a “matter of hours” versus days or weeks, Wilson said, adding that it only takes a handful of people to complete, hence retaining a low logistic footprint. The capability also provides an advantage over the adversary as it entails the aircraft is not always in “predictable locations,” since it doesn’t have a dedicated spot it needs to be taken apart or put back together Wilson said.

“It complicates things for the adversary because you may not have the aircraft in predictable locations and ensures that armed overwatch is provided for the joint force to increase their own survivability,” he said. “Finally it also ensures persistent presence of capability at a low cost compared to other platforms, like I said, freeing up higher-end assets for other locations.” 

The capability also allows AFSOC to overcome the “tyranny of distance,” the command stated in a press release today, a term used to describe the significant logistical challenges military forces face due to the vast geographical distances involved in the Indo-Pacific theater particularly. 

AFSOC is looking at transporting the Skyraiders in larger mobility aircraft like the C-17s, Wilson said. As of now, AFSOC isn’t sure how many Skyraiders will fit in the C-17s, but that will be part of the operational test processes the team conducts later this calendar year. 

News of the disassembly and reassembly capability today comes after the command announced it received the first five of its Skyraiders at last year’s SOF Week expo. Since then, AFSOC has received 18 aircraft and expects a “handful more” by the end of this fiscal year, Wilson said. The goal is to eventually receive 75 Skyraiders throughout the aircraft’s program of record, Wilson said. 

Though Wilson wouldn’t provide exact details on when the aircraft will be fully deployed, he said the Skyraiders will be ready for combat in the “coming years.”