The Tricked-Out Cropduster the US Military Can’t Get Enough Of (The AT-802 Skywarden)

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[@megaprojects9649]

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[@chuckmiller7294]

That wasn't an a10

[@bronsonstrange3827]

Hi Simon's awesome team! I wanted to put a quick suggestion for a VERY similar video if this one does well: The A-29/A-27 [Super] Tucano. I'm not sure who is currently using/trying it, but I recently saw a group of 6 A-27 Tucano's at a domestic US Military base (they were visitors at this particular base), and I knew a guy that was working the A-29 Super Tucano with AFSOC a few years ago. I'm not sure how easy it will be to find relevant details, but I do believe that this is another turboprop aircraft that will see service lots of future service as a "modern day" military aircraft. As always, keep up the great, educational, and entertaining videos!!!

[@mynameisgladiator1933]

I always felt like the USA was making a huge mistake relying too much on hyper-expensive, powerful planes. I felt like there was a huge need for cheap, reliable, smaller planes that have the specs just like this plane. I also feel like even fighter jets are just too expensive, putting too many resources at risk in one plane. Why not build cheap light fighters that are 1/10th the cost of an F-35?

[@johnmcmickle5685]

There is a little correction that need to be made. Most farmers do not own crop dusters they are owned by companies which farmers hire to apply seed, chemicals or fertilizer. Farmers do not want to have to deal with up keep on the aircraft an dealing with the Federal Aviation Administration. Some crop-dusting operations even contract to provide water drops on wildland fires.

[@chuckmiller7294]

@@mynameisgladiator1933 that wouldn't work because other nations wouldn't do the same thing

[@Kaiserboo1871]

I just love how a Propeller-based Aircraft still has a place on the modern battlefield.

[@BIGBLOCK5022006]

The Skyraider would shed manly tears.

[@KOZMOuvBORG]

The British Swordfish (biplanes) in WW2 attacking the German battleship Bismark were effective because they flew too low and slow for its guns to aim properly on.

[@Rensune]

Due to Fuel, mainly. Only took the US military 20 years to catch up (look up the Super Tucano)

[@theduke7539]

​@Rensune Yes and no, fuel is a primary factor, but not the issue. Its loitering time. Prop planes burn less fuel over a long period of time compared to jets but they fly much slower. However, the A10 proved that no dedicated ground attack plane can fly in contested airspace, so flying that fast does not help. endurance over speed

[@warpdriveby]

...I love how you say that like tanks, guns, bombs, swords, fuses, wheels and boots aren't so much older than air-screws! 😂

[@hughbarton5743]

Another huge benefit of the aircraft's range is the ability to "loiter" over the battlefield for really extended times, which of course is probably much appreciated by the operators on the ground.

[@mothmagic1]

More likely to run out of ammunition than fuel because I imagine they'd be operating from strips 50 miles or less from the FEBA as the Harrier was intended to do.

[@noisepuppet]

Sure she can loiter But can she reconnoiter? How best to exploit her? If the A10 is adroit, is she adroiter?

[@noisepuppet]

I have now made my most annoying comment ever

[@hughbarton5743]

And in rhyming couplets! Great work!

[@poki580]

@@mothmagic1 loiter but it looks like a small arms can take it down

[@iowafarmboy]

As a farmer, I LOVE these! Btw, an important note is that vast majority of farmers themselves aren't buying these. They are bought by a company that just does aircraft spraying, and are contracted by the farmer or a co-op.

[@reefsroost696]

We knew that.😊

[@MarcSherwood]

@@reefsroost696 I don't think everyone would know that really. Considering the cost of the rest of the equipment farmers need these days, I would not think a plane would be out of reason. A friend of mine has a small farm and I just about chocked when I heard what he had to spend on a tractor and the rest of the kit. Now I know why food is so expensive these days. Someone is getting rich selling the farmers equipment, the farmers make a little selling what they produce, then the rest of the supply chain makes a killing. Those growing, and those eating are making others rich.

[@garymccann2960]

An F35 pilot would be crashing into a fence if he jumped into a prop tailgragger.

[@facepalm7345]

@@MarcSherwood I know a lot of vineyard owners who own a cheap helecopter for the express purpose of late winter morning frosts, to blow it off their crops early in the morning. Farming is high tech. Farmers always get the short straw

[@bynrdskynrd]

​@@facepalm7345*Small Farmers* FTFY

[@portnuefflyer]

I had an Air Tractor working on my rural property just a few days ago, it's speed an maneuverability were impressive as hell. I can see how they would be great for close support.

[@mutteringmale]

I'm wondering why they never tried the private plane/ pilot market? What a plane to land anywhere, good range and it could be cockpit expanded to carry 4 people easily.

[@hardychip3736]

It’s too slow and would make an easy target!

[@mutteringmale]

@@hardychip3736 That's what they said about the Warthog....those airfarce pukes who want to spend billions on idiotic planes.

[@HipposHateWater]

@@hardychip3736 So are A-10's, AC-130's, and virtually all attack helicopters. Just don't deploy them against targets with formidable air forces or expensive air-defense systems within a relevant distance. Problem solved.

[@bradleysmith2021]

Considering it carries 6k pounds of ordinance and only weighs 7800 pounds, I’d say it would pack a punch. We just need to develop low-speed countermeasures. We have flares and chaff for heatseekers, we could develop a laser-based blinding system for incoming optical guided.

[@EchosTackyTiki]

The Skywarden is like a cowboy with a Henry repeater and two Colt Armys fighting in Vietnam. But be damned, he's the hardest to kill and the best at what he does.

[@Jeff-zf6zz]

He's not stuck with you, YOU'RE STUCK WITH HIM.

[@coldsteel.and.courage]

A lever gun can be quite effective, and there is at least one account of one being used in Vietnam. Jerry Mad Dog Shriver used a 444 Marlin at one point, a sawed off shotgun, and up to 6 sidearms. He served over 1,000 days in the Jungle before finally disappearing in a major firefight along with 6 of his fellows, never to be seen again.

[@Jeff-zf6zz]

@@coldsteel.and.courage legends say that him and those 6 boys are still kicking nva butts

[@coldsteel.and.courage]

@@Jeff-zf6zz not far off, the NVA were never able to substantiate any clams that they had captured him. Fitting end to a story, he just faded away into the jungle.

[@Jeff-zf6zz]

@@coldsteel.and.courage He's a ghost in the jungle. THE APEX PREDATOR

[@davidhickman6291]

I live on kangaroo island in South Australia. During our massive bushfire that burnt over half the islands scrub and pasture roughly 2 years ago , I worked at a bush strip refueling and refilling air tractors with fire retardant foam. they are truly awsome and can land on shitty ground and paddocks . big shout out that the island has regrown and is once again the best tourist destination in Australia. Another quick shout out to Pat"poison pat" Crowther , one of K I 's best air tractor pilots.

[@roww22]

Kangaroo island?! I hear that place is really hopping

[@justa.american8303]

I'm glad to hear that the island has recovered.

[@mitchellneu]

“It’s a cropduster…with F*CKING MISSILES!” Well done on that line delivery, Simon! 😂😂😂 Edit: Wow I NEVER expected this to blow up like it did. Thanks, friends!

[@vstolpner]

I think that even beats sharks with freaking lasers on their heads! 🤣🤣

[@mitchellneu]

@@vstolpner it absolutely beats “sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads!!!” 😂

[@vincentashton5134]

Son of the a-10

[@travisinthetrunk]

We’ve all dropped some bombs after crop dusting.

[@jasonbernal9348]

I mean. What else are you gonna crop dust with?

[@squawk750021]

Friends in the program and SF have renamed it from Air Tractor Sky Warden to: “War Tractor” I fly the AT-802 “Fire Boss” scooping waterbomber. The plane is a Beast, most challenging and most rewarding plane I have ever flown.

[@aymonfoxc1442]

Good on ya mate. Water bombers save lives, so I wish you lasting luck.

[@Sniperboy5551]

Your username checks out

[@JurassicJenkins]

Rename it to ScoopyDo 😊

[@alexwalker2582]

🤣😂 HAHA! War Tractor, that's beautiful. Now I can't stop thinking of putting an auto cannon on a tractor.

[@mattdrahos2662]

I wish that thing had a 2nd seat, I wanted a ride the second I first saw it:) I am still shocked at how fast it climbed empty... I was impressed as a non pilot with about 1000 hours in the right seat. It is a tie for the coolest non military aircraft of the modern age- I got to watch 4 Canadair Cl-415's working a fire... tough call:)

[@nd_gunslinger_6264]

As a farmer, I can completely agree with this 😂 Air Tractor, it's legit in the name, they are flying tanks. I'm good friends with some of our AG pilots, on one we actually painted the P-40 style shark mouth on the fuselage and we found a reproduction AA style gun sight that we bolted right behind the pressure gauge also on the nose, for a while after every field he sprayed he had some stencils made up that had a green square (fields) with an X through it, but after a while the space under his cockpit was getting pretty full. The owner of said plane is around my age and is also a huge warbird fan like myself(if you can't tell 😂). Same guy also owns a Bush Plane style Piper Cub that is painted like an old school Vietnam/WWll Grasshopper. Any of the pilots from our local airstrip pretty much know me and love to buzz the farm when they are headed back to the airstrip. Especially our "Crop Dive Bomber"

[@danielcaponi9839]

That’s the definition of cool!

[@Cobyc5150]

And that's called living the life boys!

[@HipposHateWater]

I love this lol

[@davidpeters8813]

That's awesome!

[@SoulTouchMusic93]

the war tractor!

[@ecleveland1]

Farmers don’t buy crop dusters. Crop dusting is a service farmers hire to destribute chemicals and fertilizer on their crop fields usually when the crops are too big to use a tractor because it would damage the crops. It’s also a way to protect the crops from pest quickly before they become a problem.

[@Narco42]

09:15 That is not an A-10. That is an A-1 Skyraider. The badass CAS piston driven plane from the Vietnam war that shot down at least 2 MiG-17s.

[@motor2of7]

Badass is an understatement. Love that plane!

[@scotts2027]

I believe one also killed an infantryman with its prop.

[@michaeltownsend429]

The astonishing thing is its payload exceeded that of a B-17!

[@therexbellator]

They showed an A-10 earlier in the video, I think this was just a slide that got put in the wrong place.

[@finntheirish13]

Came here to say that! Also an incredible plane just not the one he was referencing!

[@jtdub-wanders]

My dad just retired from Air Tractor. Their entire line of planes is impressive and Mr. Snow was always such a nice guy.

[@jakehildebrand1824]

Nice enough to build a completely chromed out plane for me? (obviously I would pay for it) Not practical in any way whatsoever, but the ability to blind anyone looking in my general direction as Im flying over would be more than worth it.

[@jtdub-wanders]

@@jakehildebrand1824 Leland Snow died in 2011.

[@jakehildebrand1824]

@@jtdub-wanders oh. Thats sad

[@skeeman7514]

@@jtdub-wandersassuredly, he was a hero, and he will rest well

[@WardDorrity]

They make great tow plans for gliders, too

[@tadecker82]

I've met a few professional Crop Duster Pilots. I've seen up close (even onboard) what an Air Tractor can do. THEY ARE INSANE!!! Their payload (and wing load) are INSANE!!! Their massive control surfaces and RIDICULOUS engines allow them to fly in ways very few aircraft can. Just add soft armor, and reinforced hardpoints, and BOOM, you've got yourself a scary piece of hardware.

[@mattdrahos2662]

I have met some and they are a special breed... I have been in the right seat for a wide variety of pilots in AK, but I worked with a crazy crop duster for a while, thinking he was a bush pilot, and some of the moves he would make left me terrified, breathless and impressed. In the tier of crazy skilled pilots crop dusters are S-tier- they are right up there with carrier pilots and bush pilots for day to day insane.

[@haakonsteinsvaag]

why soft armor, or rather define soft armor? Why not hard armor? Make it a flying tank like the Russian Sturmoviks from WW2. Make it safe or at least resistant to 23mm cannons, you know those AA guns on pickups that insurgents might have.

[@NorthForkFisherman]

@@haakonsteinsvaag Hard armor tends to be very heavy because it just acts as a wall. Soft armor flexes and absorbs the load from the impact by distributing the forces much more widely rather than just at one single point.

[@Rogue-7.62]

When talking 7.62mm or .50 / 12.7mm soft armor want hold up. Planes like the A10 with the hard armor around the cockpit can take up to 23mm direct hits.

[@mickboyce386]

Its not insane, its all in the training and attitude. The concept has been around for 50 years.

[@Homer890]

I was working at L3 when the contract was announced we were shocked that the plane had such a small airframe and such an insane underwing payload.

[@luislongoria6621]

Sleepy Joe's not that bad after all 😅

[@dakotahrickard]

I think this absolutely makes sense. It's simple, effective, and functional. Sometimes, innovation means synthesis rather than invention.

[@robertjames8220]

Official designation by the USAF is OA-1K Sky Warden. The designation of AT-802U is a company designation used by Air Tractor. Although, I'm going to start calling them what I've read the pilots are calling it: "War Tractor".

[@alpacaofthemountain8760]

Love that name

[@kmikl]

If there was nose art for these, I NEED to see WH40K Orks screaming WAAAAAAAGH! or MOAR DAKKA!!!

[@16rumpole]

I wanted to call it the Jethro. I love this plane.

[@csr4043]

Great name!

[@andyknowles4261]

Great video, but the aircraft at 9:16 is a A-1 Sky Raider and not an A-10!

[@nzkshatriya6298]

I don't think Simon does the actual video editing

[@thudthud5423]

Someone missed a "0" when typing out the editing script.

[@stuart5811]

the A-10 was developed to replace the A-1. The A-1 flew in Korea and Vietnam. It could hang out with the Hueys in Vietnam

[@kenjifox4264]

Also known as the Sandy.

[@markmitchell457]

This channel makes 1 major and several minor gaffs per episode, finding the mistakes is half the fun.

[@MOEMUGGY]

I painted crop dusters for beer money when I was younger, and I was always impressed with the steel blades they attached to the cockpit windscreen, and leading edges of the wings. They put them there to cut the power lines they might accidentally hit spraying crops.. Crop dusters are like flying knives.

[@squad-wh4ig]

Lol if they hit a wire it has to be completely torn apart and the engine disassembled its a pretty big deal

[@MOEMUGGY]

@@squad-wh4ig Depends on their speed and the thickness of the wire. You hear the pilots tell stories how the blades saved their lives many times. The blades are really thick and firmly mounted. Not to mention really, really sharp. When you have a 2 ton aircraft moving at almost 100 mph, the wires don't stand a chance. They cut like butter.

[@squad-wh4ig]

@MOEMUGGY yes my dad is a cropduster pilot and has hit a a wire and I've seen another pilot hit a wire .. destroyed the wing and prop both times had to rebuild tons of stuff

[@MOEMUGGY]

@@squad-wh4ig Absolutely. I'm sure many cropdusters aren't so lucky. For every one story of them severing a wire, there are 10 more of them not making it.

[@squad-wh4ig]

@MOEMUGGY absolutely.. if the wire hits the prop they have to disasemble the engine bc the electricity arcs inside the engine

[@josephfranzen9196]

That GAU-19 is a serious weapons system. During my first deployment to OIF with the 82nd 1st/504th one of the UH60’s that was providing cover while we extracted via an adjacent Blackhawk laid down so much hate and discontent that I couldn’t conceive how any soft target could still contain any form of life afterwards.

[@henryhoward9454]

What company of 1/504?

[@jcm5083]

I've always loved the idea of these and the super tucanos supplementing our higher level air assets. Low maintenance cost, lower footprint, and long loiter time on target. Plenty of pros to go to the go against the few (but significant cons)

[@Bill_pierre]

This 100%. I feel like we need a similar approach to supplement our armored warfare, and some other areas as well.

[@NoelBarlau]

My distant cousin was the CFO at Air Tractor (now president of international sales) when we went down for my dad's cousin's funeral (and his uncle's) about a decade ago. Being an airline pilot, I wanted the Executive Tour of the production facilities in Olney, Texas. It was all quite impressive, seeing wing spars 3' thick and other minor details. The grand finale was when we went around the corner and saw this sucker sitting there, looking like a P-51 Mustang but with massive PT-6 exhaust stacks. Titanium bathtub like the A-10 Warthog, and Hard Points. It was destined for the Columbian DEA, which intended on using it on illegal Coca crops, and the farmers had the nasty habit of shooting at the cropdusters smiting their means of existence. This thing could return fire and protect the pilot at the same time. Never did forget that moment - I had no idea such things were a reality.

[@denismorgan9742]

Ukraine are in desperate need of these, probably as many as possible. I don't know if this is at all possible, but Ukraine would need all the whistles and bell's that can go with them.

[@spookgriffith2892]

@@denismorgan9742 Ukraine is in a desperate need period.No matter what resources are wasted on it, they are doomed to failure. Acting doesn't qualify a man for military leadership, especially when he is corrupt. Sorry. I feel for the Ukes but zelensky plus biden equates disaster

[@ThunderChunky101]

​@@denismorgan9742lolno

[@hunterrick4]

I worked for a company in Georgia that milled the wing spar for those planes.

[@LunaticTheCat]

​@denismorgan9742 These would have very few, if any uses in Ukraine, given Russia's extensive anti-air capabilities.

[@Yuki_Ika7]

I love this beast, partially because as the KZbinr "The Fat Electrician" put it (not an exact quote here but the same message): "imagine you are an insurgent and the last thing you see is an up-armored and armed crop-duster, that is one of the funniest and in the eyes of some humiliating things to be killed by if you have to tell your buddies in whatever afterlife you believe in"

[@zacharyalvernaz7916]

Fat Electrician is a walking dad joke. His videos are awesome.

[@98erics]

Lord knows that you don't want to disappoint that one 72 year old virgin that's up there waitin' on ya!

[@isodoublet]

Crop dusters are awesome, and those Ag pilots have incredible skill. There are far worse ways to go for sure.

[@angrytigermpc]

This thing is an absolute beast. People go "haha it's just a prop plane XD" but people forget that you don't need supersonic top speed and ultra advanced stealth to drop things that go boom Plus it's fuel-efficient by comparison - air support that isn't a gas guzzler, what's the downside?

[@weldonwin]

It's a Flying Technical, it's like taking a pick-up truck and sticking a 50cal on the back

[@matsv201]

If we compare it to a stuka its actually kind of interesting. 2700kg vs 2900kg empty weight 1200hp vs 1350hp power. 13.8vs 18 meter span 4.3 vs 7.2ton maximum take of The stuka is not a smal aircraft, but the at802, despite having just a bit stronger engine is quite a bit larger and can literaly carry tons more payload.(2.7 to be precise) At802 is also quite a lot faster and more aerodynamic.... Worth saying that the weight of the stuka does include 3 guns.

[@joelb8653]

The night witches did huge damage with literal cropdusters.

[@Jayess-c]

Downside is it would instantly get shot down during war times now. This was when airplanes were less then 100 years old

[@matsv201]

@@Jayess-c well. Even a stuka could not really really put up a fight against any decent wwii fighter.

[@bryanschwertner3585]

My Uncle, cousin and his son have flown Air Tractor aircraft in aerial chemical application. These planes are awesome! The turboprop engine made them quieter and later propeller tech made them whisper quiet in level flight. We live on a farm in the Lano Estacado area of Texas and they fly in this area every day. My wife and I love photographing them especially the underside “belly of the beast!” This year, in May, I photographed the first 802 I’ve ever seen in person. Absolutely Awesome!!! So quiet the loudest sound is air rushing over exposed surfaces, except during maneuvers. I can see why they are so popular with various militaries. And a big thank you to Air Tractor for using modern tech to hush aerial applicator aircraft. Thanks for the video!

[@GraemePayne1967Marine]

The really amazing thing is that the military is essentially buying a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product and adding to it only what is needed for a particular mission. That is completely sensible, and therefore Completely UNHEARD OF in my previous US military and Govenrment experience! It's about d***ed time!!! Thank you for this one!

[@brianb-p6586]

There have been previous military aircraft which were adaptations of civilian aircraft, including the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker (adapted from the 367) and its replacement the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus (adapted from the 767), the Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star (adapted from the Super Constellation) and Boeing E-3 Sentry (adapted from the 707), and the Boeing 737 AEW&C, C-40 Clipper, and P-8 Poseidon (all three adapted from the 737NG).

[@martinstallard2742]

1:15 humble origins 4:14 end of sponsorship 6:04 the crop duster from hell 10:47 AT-802: special operator

[@Jayess-c]

You are a saint

[@1slotmech]

TY for timestamps😂

[@trepan4944]

Doing God's work my friend. Thank you.

[@markmitchell457]

Serving the OCD everywhere.

[@mjk9388]

You sir are amazing, thank you.

[@ditzydoo4378]

there is a reason it's called the Air-Tractor. because like its earth-bound counterpart the Toyota Hilux truck, only a lack of imagination limits what one can do with it.

[@funkalicious2002]

Those air tractors are wild. They’ve been buzzing my house recently, and it sounds like a wwii bombing run every time. And they’re pretty powerful

[@baconsnake6463]

We’ve been refueling a crap ton of them at gjt, they’ve been fighting the parachute wildfire in CO

[@funkalicious2002]

@@baconsnake6463 no fires around me, but it’s prime crop dusting season. The guys that fly these things are nuts

[@dukeoversteer]

We've got them here in Australia. I used to mark paddocks with flags for the plane to use to line up their run. This is in the late 90s before GPS was widespread.

[@acrosticrampage9420]

@@funkalicious2002I’m guessing those are the AT-502B. Those are the loudest Air Tractors in my experience

[@WaltWW]

The plane pictured at 9:15 is actually a Douglas A-1D Skyraider not an A-10 Warthog.

[@T25de]

Caught that too! 😅

[@MatthewHolevinski]

I was only barely paying attention but I caught that and was like wtf, someone messed up their slideshow.

[@elroyfudbucker6806]

Another excellent, tough close ground support plane.

[@golfbravowhiskey8669]

Also affectionately called “war tractor“ or “ yellow jacket “. At one time back in the late 70s they also came to Cessna on their 188 Ag wagon/husky looking for a alternative, but at that time, there just wasn’t many turboprops in the ag industry, except for some old AG cats that have been converted. When Leland met with, I do believe Israel first they were wanting it to be changed to tricycle landing gear, he refused to entertain the idea, saying if you want to get in true back country airstrips, it needs to be tail wheel.

[@tadecker82]

If Disney ever gets their 💩 together, they need to make a "Planes 3", where Dusty Crophopper gets another upgrade, and then fights the Mexican Cartels. 😂

[@skifish1]

i was thinking the same fricking thing

[@skifish1]

xD

[@craigriddell1169]

As Scotty said in Star Trek, the more comlicated you make the plumbing , the easier it is to stop up the drain! If it is a low threat environment something simple, durable, capable of heavy lift / short take off & landing, maneuverable but steady at low speed with good loiter time and doesn't require 15 - 25 hours of maintenance per flight hour makes a lot of sense

[@trickydicky2908]

This plane is kinda like turning 'plowshares into swords'.

[@skyhawk_4526]

Nice reference!

[@Lightraymuse]

Clever observation.

[@finnmcool2]

That's an old conversion. Google Bill Hook.

[@trickydicky2908]

@finncool2 I only google my weather forecast. It's new to me.

[@marakistarwalt8790]

Without a forge it is a pain in the ass. I did it once.

[@oxide9679]

Can you imagine the level of disrespect to get killed by a flying tractor? Imagine being in the afterlife, all your dead buddies saying, "Hey, did you hear that Groot over here got killed by the Wright Brothers?"

[@jyothisjenu6477]

Looks like Dusty from the movie Planes ended up joining the military after all!

[@MCFishNuggets]

There’s even a firefighting version 😭😂

[@7891ph]

Having lived on the family farm for almost my entire life, we've hired crop dusters flying this bad boy. It's maneuverability is amazing.

[@mutteringmale]

I grew up in California near many fields in the San Fernando valley. As a kid I used to pull over on the road and just sit there watching them dusting. What a sight.

[@dchiznit209]

From eradicating one kind of insect in the field..to another on a different kind of field

[@sleeplessstu]

The perhaps lesser known Grumman AgCat was from a long and storied line of great fighter planes. The lineage from the Hellcat, Wildcat and Bearcat is rather obvious. The Grumman motto: “Make it strong, make it simple and make it work” Badass plane !

[@SirOsisofLiver]

I grew up in New Brunswick. That province used Grumman TBM Avengers as spray planes and water bombers until 2012. It was neat seeing them flying in formation in the Spring and Fall going to and from winter storage. The sound was incredible.

[@sleeplessstu]

@@SirOsisofLiver The very first plastic model kit I ever built was the Grumman Avenger ! I forgot about THAT one ! Thanks 😉

[@elroyfudbucker6806]

Grumman were famous for making very good carrier-based aircraft & had to be strong in order to survive landings (read; controlled crashes) in all sorts of sea conditions. Interestingly, Grumman also made the Lunar Excursion Modules for the Apollo missions. "Make it strong, make it simple & make it work" was never more important for something like landing on the moon.

[@brianb-p6586]

The Ag Cat is probably less well-known now than the AirTractor, but those piston-engine crop dusters (including the Cessna 188, Piper PA-25 Pawnee, and Snow's own Thrush/S-2 that later became the Aero Commander and Ag Commander) are certainly well-known.

[@jonbroadsword7572]

If you've ever seen an Air Tractor or any other type of crop duster pop up over a tree line or phone lines and then dive down to within a few feet of a farm field at high speed, you can easily imagine it coming to your rescue with a strafing run of machine gun or rocket fire.

[@1chumley1]

If they get used, it is only a matter of time until they end up in a dogfight with a jet or helicopter.

[@maxjohnson1758]

Indeed. In fact, they put up "Crop Duster at Work" caution signs in Indiana sometimes, on account of it can scare drivers when they pop up out of nowhere.

[@stevenbosley5803]

@@1chumley1 a heli or jet might have its hands full, assuming pilots fly like dusters i have seen

[@mutteringmale]

If I saw that coming at me, I'd throw my hands up in surrender like a Russian orc to a UDF drone.

[@phillair3813]

Leland Snow was a generous, nice guy and I am proud to have been his brother-in-law.

[@samthelima]

A couple of weeks ago, I watched 4 or 5 of these fighting wildfires on the island of Ciovo in Croatia. They were accompanied by a larger Canadair . It was fascinating, and they were able to put the fire out by the next day.

[@woodyhuband9248]

You know, I have one simple request and that is to have a crop duster with frickin’ laser bombs attached to its wings.

[@hillsboroughservice2116]

Dr.Evil?

[@oweneather1435]

In 1977, just discharged from the Australian Army, I began my MBA to retrain for a new career. Ten years prior had included a tour of Soth Vietnam, a pilots license and much work in the Airborne and Aviation areas of the military. At one time, my clas were on assignment to answer a question on Piper Aircraft, the case study being from the mid Sixties when Piper had cash flow problem. Quick cash had to be found from the existing model range. Knowing the value of small, ligbt fixed wing aircraft in counter insurgency, slow, low and high payloads were desirable qualities in the market of that time, with memories of trialing rocket rails on Army Cessna 180s as inspiration. My answer nominated the Piper Pawnee crop duster for this COIN role. The Air Warden and the Pawnee could almkst bectwin brotbers, although separated by flur decades. The lecturer was effusive in his praise for my out of box thinking, to my embarassment in front of surly classmates. How little did I realise I was decades ahead of the world.😂

[@elroyfudbucker6806]

You should check your mixture control; "almkst betwin brotbers". I sounded like a too rich engine saying those three words out loud.

[@milk-it]

We've got a fleet of these based around the south west of Western Australia, and graduate pilots often get jobs into these firebombers after flying scouting missions. Awesome aircraft.

[@nuchbutter]

You mentioned that military pilots don't have experience in prop planes. I present to you that all of them (Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force) currently are trained in the T6 Texan II, which is a turboprop tandem aerobatic trainer utilizing the same PT-6 engine and prop as most common Air Tractors. Granted, it's not a tail-dragger, but the Air Tractor is actually very forgiving in it's ground handling, take-off, and landing behavior. It won't take long for even a nugget Naval Aviator to transition to an Air Tractor attack aircraft.

[@gtgamer666]

Never have I gotten so much hype from a crop duster. It's a wonderful aircraft. It's as wonderful as it is deadly.

[@HATECELL]

A great idea, since military airplanes are notoriously difficult and expensive to maintain. A small insurgent group just couldn't keep a plane like the A-10 operational. And the low speed can be a big advantage when shooting at ground targets. It even makes unguided weapons, which tend to be lighter and cheaper, viable as there is enough time to aim properly

[@ROMAQHICKS]

I have to say is the Skywarden is actually badass looking all kitted out.

[@skyhawk_4526]

It kind of reminds me of the Cessna O-2 that was used in the Vietnam War and was essentially just a modified civilian Cessna 337 Skymaster that had rockets mounted under the wings. Its role was as a forward observation aircraft to help direct airstrikes, and the rockets were there to simply mark targets for the nearby attack aircraft. However, there are some accounts of them being used offensively where the rockets were aimed at enemy troop formations to take them out.

[@sailingspark9748]

and the Vietnamese quickly learned not to shoot at them. Any fire on the O2 would quickly bring the big dogs out. It was also Major Buang-Ly who landed one with his wife and 5 kids on the USS Midway while we were bugging out of Vietnam. His O2 is on display at the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola.

[@thingamabob3902]

Or even further back in WW2 the tiny spotter planes like the L-2 Grasshopper or the Fieseler Storch. Or when they discovered that the thought-to-be-obsolete biplane Henschel Hs-123 or the russian equivalent Polikarpov U-2/Po-2 still had a useful role as harassment bombers.

[@emjackson2289]

@@sailingspark9748 O1 but yeah, the rest correct for the Major's flight to the Midway. Hilliard Wilbanks won his CMoH in an O1 to boot.

[@michaeltelson9798]

@@thingamabob3902Poland had the LWS 3 Mewa under final testing ready for production. Just about ready for service prior to the German attack among other near production ready advanced aircrsft

[@thingamabob3902]

@@michaeltelson9798 interesting

[@jebe9337]

One of the reasons the OV-10 Bronco was brought out of retirement for CAS missions in the Middle East. Prop aircraft are a great platform for CAS missions.

[@TheAidanodian]

Dusty got conscripted

[@mcburcke]

AFSOC is going to love these little birds, and believe me, they will come up with a lot of very creative ways to employ it in the field. This "Mini A-10" will be a hit, no doubt.

[@PrograError]

well the granddaddy A-10 ain't gonna be happy with the wimpy kiddo trying to take His lane... (then again he's retiring ain't he?

[@mcburcke]

@@PrograError Well, ya gotta give the young whippersnapper a chance to grow up, right?

[@uku4171]

I'm glad this thing is getting attention. It's so awesome.

[@BradBolton-wq6ub]

I grew up working for an aerial spraying company working around these machines and their talented pilots. One of my jobs was to spot for obstructions… towers, guy-lives supporting towers, power lines. At 120mph they would typically fly UNDER the power lines. They would regularly land with corn tassels on the landing gear! This is a great concept. You could have a forward support team out in the field that could re-fuel/re-arm them off of improvised strips. A cleared section of any road or a relatively flat farm/pasture field would work.

[@Skinflaps_Meatslapper]

LOL, you're not actually supposed to be coming back with tassels in the gear, that's way too low to get a good spray pattern. Used to be a thing decades ago before we knew better.

[@knoll9812]

A different angle is that the plane supports the men. It can fly in men and supplies and fly them out. Resupply helping group d team to move lighter and faster. Plus useful to have a peek over the hill. In some ways like a helicopter but much easier to maintain.

[@knoll9812]

Another angle is in supporting allied low tech governments. I presume that was suppoyto happen in Afghanistan but you need to pick your allies if you want to win. May work for some Africa countries struggling with insurgents. Have lots of small garrison which is commoyin counter insurgency but each one maintaining a rough air strip. They could recon to avoid suprise and join in firefights. Howyneed good ground forces as they need to go after enemy to stop them setting up and killiythe planes. A bit like tanks needing infantry protection.

[@BradBolton-wq6ub]

The tassels in the landing gear typically came not from the actual spaying, but from flying under power lines.

[@justinmaynard890]

My grandfather lived with Leland’s family when he was a boy. My papaw was a tail gunner in ww2 flying out of England. When he returned to the states he was sent to south Texas. There was a housing shortage and locals wd let out rooms. My papaw lived with the Snows. Leland thought my papaw walked on water because he was in the air corps. In the early 90s Leland tracked him down to let him know what a huge influence my papaw had on his life. He ended up passing before my papaw did. When I told him, it’s the only time that I ever saw him cry. RIP Leland Snow and Ollie Bowling

[@charlesmurphy7936]

Just for anyone wondering, the basic standard for US Military operations IS Overkill. An American General once said " fair fight? Hell no we dont fight fair, we fight to win!"

[@sdavidb5620]

Remember seeing all those Toyota pickups with machine guns and anti aircraft guns mounted in their boxes? Yea, now imagine that flying. I have seen the sky tractors spraying fields in Minnesota and North Dakota for years now. They are amazing to watch.

[@AvoidTheCadaver]

Flying technicals!

[@mattt525]

My Dad used to fly the older version to spray crops. These planes are fucking impressive. All the power you could ask for. They had an older AgWagon with a radial you could hear that thing everywhere it was so loud! I absolutely LOVED hearing that thing. One of guys that he worked with had a catastrophic failure of one of the engine cylinders. Damn thing kept running long enough to get it on the ground! The other one was newer with a turbo prop powerplant. Thank you Simon! Brought back some wonderful memories!

[@bjw4859]

Now that's a huge set of nuts, my grandfather flew Swordfish in WW2 & the general public put them down as not being real war aircraft, but they could make the captain of the largest ship crap his pants & run like hell, it's a hare & tortoise thing.

[@dipereira0123]

You forgot to mention a veeery important point of it: the same plant that builds the civilian version can provide for the military version in case of need unlike a f-16/ f-18 etc... And im not sure but in emergency there could be the possibility to convert civilian ones into the military version (i remember something about dual use projects from WWII where the oil tankers had a structure planed to be adaptable and converted into Aircraft carriers)

[@snwbrdbum14]

I'm not sure what the point you're making in your first paragraph is. Are you suggesting there's separate plants making civi/military F-16/F-18's? _Are you suggesting there's civi versions of those aircraft to begin with?_ Of course the plant that makes the civi versions of those aircraft doesn't also make the military versions... *because the civi versions of those aircrafts don't exist*

[@dipereira0123]

@@snwbrdbum14 I guess I made myself ambiguous, the point was that this is a civilian aircraft that can be converted for military use and the construction plant without the need of big adaptations While there's no civilian use for a military aircraft besides security operations But a little correction, there are "civilian" versions of military aircrafts (not top of the notch ones like the F-16) but for fighter jets that companies use to simulate agressors in training exercises (like the F5)

[@dipereira0123]

@@snwbrdbum14 you can search about this subject like this video about a civilian version of the F-16 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWW2kmOsr9J1nNUsi=nmkotsG8djBIGwFj

[@shawnhomer2869]

"Harder to maintain than the A-10 warthog" Image doesn't show a warthog.

[@evinduggins2431]

I grew up near Richvale CA, out in the rice patties. These planes are often your closest neighbors out there. I loved watching them fly. I can totally confirm how robust they are. I saw one hit some power lines and crash once. I knew the pilot, he was fine and that plane was back to work in two days. Sky Tractors is what we call all of them there.

[@studley2436]

It makes a lot of sense to purpose the Air Tractor this way. It reminds me of the Caribou, not that pretty but it can do stuff nothing else can do. I see this platform as offering a lot of value to a war fighting effort. You get to achieve things with it that other planes can't do and it does them cheaply and from almost any place at all. It would give the enemy a real headache by just popping up where you didn't want it to be.

[@javierpatag3609]

Terrific video of the Sky Warden. I like how you covered its civilian roots to contrast with its later military adoption. For a design to transition from civilian to military design so smoothly just shows how good a design it was even from the beginning.

[@Grebogoborp]

This thing feels like the AH-6 little bird of the fixed wing world you don’t get the OOMPH of a real full size aircraft but it’s the scalpel to the comparative broadsword that is a full size attacker. For what it’s intended to do (high precision long duration operations against opponents with limited or no anti air capabilities) it seems to be by far the best possible solution while also costing quite literally less than 1/20 of the price of the next cheapest solution.

[@mickd894]

I got a ride in the back of one in the Mississippi Delta. They made it clear, they’re not crop dusters, they’re aerial applicators. It was a demilitarized model, over a ton of armor removed, panels with bullets holes were replaced.

[@DJPhukk]

First the Killdozer... and now the Deathduster ❤

[@OndreaS123]

I saw a video on Super Tocanos a few years ago & wondered why the US didn't have anything similar in inventory, it made too much sense. for the price, the AT-802 should be on every airbase, and fitted with folding wings for carrier use. we should still have the faster/stealth tech the F-15, F35, drones, and all the others... but this fills a very different roll needing much less support, and can be deployed almost anywhere. maybe for training send the pilots to go do cropdusting & firefighting and field repairs.

[@bob_btw6751]

The Marine Corp would make good use of them, if they had them.

[@riograndedosulball248]

Well, the US tested Super Tucanos for years. They concluded that the role did fit their military, then, bought an unquestionably inferior airplane, but assembled in house. Such is life in military contracts

[@luislongoria6621]

​@@riograndedosulball248 "assembled under license" Now tell me what you know about military contracts. Name any military aircraft export by any nation's flag, and it will always be assembled in-house

[@THarSul]

Lol, it feels like they’ve basically made the flying equivalent to a jeep; rugged, durable, able to carry a heavy load, and able to operate in virtually any environment.

[@Giomancer]

YES! That's what I was thinking! xD

[@rogerramjet6134]

I sat right seat in an OA-37 during the Panama invasion with a young Lieutenant, and we were tasked with identifying a "potential hostile aircraft on a hill top." We got there and the Looie was stumped. There was one plane, and two tanks for liquids on stilts (high enough to drain by gravity into the plane). I was laughing so hard the Looie got mad, and I told him - "That's an AG Cat." (one tank was for gas, the other for whatever he was spraying). Someone thought it was a leftover WW II fighter and sent him to ID it...

[@adamniehaus5835]

Had one of these crop duster models fly right over my rural home yesterday dusting the fields. Very impressive to watch the pilot maneuver it

[@mitchconner2021]

You'd be surprised with how much "low tech" stuff our SF guys use. It's a cool mix of the super advanced and if its not broke don't fix it lol

[@ChristopherKnN]

Low tech don't break.

[@Aliyah_666]

​@@ChristopherKnNAs old timers say, nothing new under the sun. As long as you know how to apply old technology it is lethally effective.

[@laststand6420]

​@@Aliyah_666I heard of a guy who broke into a house (recently) and found himself on the wrong end of a musket. He scoffed, and was promptly blown away. Modern people can be so arrogant.

[@markmitchell457]

Wheel gun or automatic? Depends on if you want it to go bang every time. Simple can be better.

[@paultopham8626]

K.I.S.S. If you know, you know.

[@cpconner93]

Dusty Cropphopper went and joined the Air Force

[@mightymikethebear]

This plane is a good addition to our military operations. However, agricultural equipment has been used my militaries all over the world throughout history.

[@heavilyarmedhippie75]

As you said, it is unlikely, but imagine the absolute level of disrespect in getting shot down by a crop duster. they sky warden is essentially a moped with a mk19 automatic grenade launcher strapped to it, and I love it

[@benrockefeller6334]

Now I badly want to see if this thing could take on a Zero or a Mustang. It's slower and less maneuverable, but with its better avionics I wouldn't say that it is necessarily going to lose. Something about the idea of a modern cropduster taking down the juggernauts of WW2 just makes me laugh so hard.

[@heavilyarmedhippie75]

@@benrockefeller6334 PGM guided missile go brrrr

[@danielortman2534]

I absolutely love this aircraft. It isn't Seal Team 6, it's Jerry who hangs around the hardware store drinking beer and looking to pick up odd jobs.

[@MikeOchtman]

The South African Defence Force used to deploy "Bosbok" reconnaissance planes, little more than a canvas and aluminium twin seater with a really slow ground speed, but so tiny that it made a difficult target for ground fire. The rumour was the only reason it stayed in the air was that the plane was afraid of the ground.

[@bynrdskynrd]

"Old paper kites" helped kill the Bismark. Also, the Taranto Raid.

[@complexsin5469]

Having an army of toyotas and cropdusters will put the fear of God in the top militaries, lol.

[@gaius_enceladus]

Great aircraft! It's "mission set" - light-to-medium attack, close air support and recon - reminds me of the Vietnam-era OV-10 Bronco which was also an awesome aircraft. A slow aircraft is very much what you want for close air support and light attack missions. The flexibility of the load-out for this aircraft is amazing, as is the number of hardpoints it has! If Ukraine had a mix of A-10s, these and a few Broncos they could absolutely *annihilate* the Russian front lines.

[@tomsparks3259]

Ag airplanes are like a cross between an aerobatic aircraft and a heavy pickup truck. Amazing maneuverability, and carrying capacity.

[@socialex]

I just can't imagine getting called out for a mission and you show up and they're like yeah we got a mission deep into enemy lines....

[@mityace]

And, certainly, they could be converted to drone style operation in the future as well or be the basis of one. It's a lot like the development of RAID in the computer industry. It was discovered that multiple, cheap PC-class hard drives could be combined in an array of redundant drives (an anagram of the acronym) to be cheaper, faster and more reliable than mainframe and minicomputer storage. In both the plane and the disk drives, it's good to not assume that the most expensive, high-tech solution is the best for all scenarios.

[@jedimindtrix2142]

Really when you stop and think it should be a given that expensive and high tech isn't always going to be best thing for any given job. If you have to remove a screw from a piece of furniture are you going to need a 10,000 dollar drill that can x-ray the wall and use AI to remove the screw? Probably not lol. No different in the military sphere. If all you need is simple eyes in the sky and some slow close air support to cover you from guys with 30 year old rifles and pick up trucks I doubt you need an F-22/F-35 or even an A-10. I have always thought the military could use a slimmed down, prop version of a close air support plane for a long time and when I saw the competition start for one a few years back I thought "they finally get it!" lol.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

The air force is working on 'wingman' drones. Then SOCOM will just take the software an add a 2nd seat for the gunner.

[@grahamjohnbarr]

The Crop Duster was invented by Sir Joseph Bejelkie-Petersen in Kingaroy, Queensland, Australia just after WW11. Back in the Day, 1970'''s. There was a crazy Agtruck Pilot in the Burdekin, (Ayr/Home Hill) Queensland, Australia that flew under & through the Burdekin Bridge. One day Some people were watching him spraying the Cane Fields in Home Hill when he hit Power lines & crashed. Not long after the Fire Brigade, Ambulance & Police turned up & a lot of other people. Meanwhile the Pilot had walked across the field & went & had a beer at the local Pub. When asked about the kerfuffle across the road he just replied that they are probably looking for me. True story.

[@firefly8464]

The famous Jo B-P of the “Save the environment, doze in a Greenie” bump stickers of Queensland 😁. Wasn’t his favourite hobby clearing bush for agricultural land in his dozer?

[@grahamjohnbarr]

@@firefly8464 Now there's a campaign I can support. Cleansing the GENE pool one Greenie at a time. Ay.

[@neglectfulsausage7689]

WW11?? damn I mustve taken a long nap.

[@neglectfulsausage7689]

These days leaving a crash site is considered a felony.

[@tintin_999]

Simon didn't mention the biggest advantage over jet aircraft for counter insurgency close air support - much lower fuel usage. In Iraq and Afghanistan a large percentage of US and allied causalities were from attacks on fuel convoys.

[@jaymorrison2419]

Less fuel = less logistics (= less logistics = even less logistics) = less money. And now (hopefully) we can stop using billion dollar stealth fighters to do CAS.

[@johnphillips5310]

"Us withdrawal" that's a nice way of saying "incompetent leadership".

[@donaldsmith1055]

In 1969 when I was stationed at NAS Albany George. Thrush Aircraft located at the municipal airport on the other side of town was producing a piston engine crop duster very similar to this aircraft. So the basic design did not come about in 1989. Thrush Aircraft is now producing a turboprop version 510P that looks very similar to the Air tractor AT802 and could be adapted in the same way. The biggest appearance difference is the number of blades on the propeller, the see through liquid tank and stronger under carriage. I don't know who came up with the basic design but it has been around a long time.

[@knoll9812]

Form follows function. Russians have an extremely rugged plane that looks the same but is even rougher

[@donaldsmith1055]

@@knoll9812 I have no idea how rougher any Russian plane like this is. I have never seen one. I just know that Russia and China like to try to copy American designs. I don't know of any American company that has copied a Russian design.

[@PrinceofPwnage]

A few of these and also the Super Tucano and OV2 broncos would be great for the Mexican air force, plus a lot of drones.

[@Shadow__133]

A29 Super Tucanos are amazing!!

[@zealousideal]

Yeah well the new Taliban Air Force has them. Lol

[@Shadow__133]

@@zealousideal Good for them, they may need them when the next superpower tries to invade them. Although, I suspect the dozen or so were disabled.

[@zealousideal]

@@Shadow__133 i don’t think anyone will invade them for a while. No one has been successful doing that. Lol. And who wants that place….it’s a shithole.

[@maxjohnson1758]

Yeah, it seems like the OV-10 Bronco would still be able to fulfill missions similar to this plane. Maybe it doesn't excel at nap of the earth flying.

[@Jenufir]

My dad passed away 6 years ago, today (coincidence). I didn't even realize it was today. But, I sure wish he was here to see this happening. He was a crop duster for 40 years. I think ag pilots are some of, if not the best pilots in the world. They are taylor made for this job. Too bad it didn't happen sooner.

[@trentgerein4907]

They're certainly shit hot pilots - my father was a crop duster for years as well. However, they have a pretty bad track record for accidents. You of course know the saying about "old and bold pilots".

[@JeffDeWitt]

I don't think many farmers buy crop dusters, I believe there are crop dusting companies and farmers contract to have their fields sprayed. A similar (and very cool) plane you should do a story on is the T-6 Texan. Very similar, but used to train fighter pilots and is also often outfitted as a fighter. If you want to go back a bit further there is the original T-6 Texan, used to train pilots during WWII and a staple of WWII movies.

[@tsamoka6496]

Jet Weaboos: Prop planes are useless in modern-day combat! Cropduster: LOL, hold my beer!

[@tonytaskforce3465]

This funky little plane reminds of the stellar wooden British WW2 fighter-bomber, the Mosquito. It could do everything, stay in the air forever and was cheap as chips to build, just like this little guy. It will be blessing to far-flung US forces fighting 'the savage wars of peace."

[@justindunlap1235]

Ive witnessed an at802 firefighting aircraft when a wildfire threatened the small town i live in, they are ridiculously nimble planes when you consider the payload.

[@jajssblue]

11:06 I would love a video on that Armed Overwatch competition and the planes the Sky Warden beat out.

[@ronaldddedman]

Combat Dragon II was the name of the competition, though the AF didn't call it a competition. It was an exercise to evaluate the aircraft. After the first exercise the 802 was not selected to participate in the second exercise in 2018. The AT-6 Wolverine and the A-29 Super Tucano flew. The exercise was stopped are a fatal accident involving the A-29. One of the two man crew was Killed. Big AF didn't really pursue the program, but AFSOC liked the small planes. After some changes in leadership the 802 was chosen.

[@Mark_Williams.]

Such in iconic civilian plane. I had no idea the military was putting it to use too! Quite the new lease on life. Impressive.

[@patrolpilot3756]

I trained on this plane!! The crop duster version of course, but i can tell you, she can haul serious weight, burns little fuel, and banks like no other aircraft I've flown!!! She'd be great at close air support .

[@RemiLega]

Imagine being that rebel. No, you’re not looking down the GAU-8 of a Warthog, a GBU-31 from an F-15, nor an AGM-114 fired from an Apache. Instead, you find yourself wondering, is that really your uncle’s farming plane?

[@evermore8888]

Interesting to note that it didn't come from Raytheon, Boeing or one of the majors in the MIC...consequently its humble, cheap, easy, versatile, and effective instead of grandiose, expensive, difficult, limited and under performs

[@itsapittie]

The United States military - especially the Air Force - has always had difficulty accepting that sometimes a low-tech solution is the best answer. I’m glad they came around on this one.

[@mutteringmale]

Cut their bloated budgets enough and it's amazing what they will find that they can "make do with".

[@1anre]

The Super Tucano already proved to be a forminade air tool in austere environments, so I'm guess that's why propeller crafts like this Skywarden are given the light of the day to further their development armament efforts. Now for the Special Operations guys, this is going to be very interesting to see it executed; The SEAL Operators as an example with all their Air HALO, Water Scuba Dive, Land CQB training will now also attend flight school and be able to take off, mark, strike targets and peel off when inserted in hot zones by themselves or would a young airforce pilot from the AFSPECWAR be embedded within the SEAL Team platoons or Green Beret ODAs the way CCTs & PJs from AFSPECWAR are, and help them achieve this objective ?

[@luislongoria6621]

The Air Tractor is cheaper than the Tucano just like the Tucano was cheaper than the Texan II. Same avionics without the glass cockipt, presumably to provide armor protection

[@mutteringmale]

I can imagine a simple folding wing design making it aircraft carrier/navy possible. And as a sub hunter or medium range ship hunter, able to fly below radar and nimble as hell, it might be a great compliment to a carrier task force? I can imagine 10 of them buzzing Iranian gun boats and daring them to "make my day".