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When the last time one saw these in actual military use?
Video in link
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/11/politi...sis/index.html
Video in link
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/11/politi...sis/index.html
(CNN)A pair of nearly 50-year-old planes has been brought out of retirement to fight ISIS.
The Vietnam-era OV-10 Bronco turbo-propeller planes are part of an experiment to see if "light turbo-prop aircraft" are more effective in conducting counterinsurgency operations, a U.S. military representative told CNN this week.
During their deployment, the planes flew 120 combat missions against ISIS targets as part of the counter-ISIS coalition, said spokesman Capt. Bryant Davis of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East.
The Daily Beast first reported on the aircraft trials.
The OV-10s were operated by a two-person crew that consisted of a naval aviator and a Navy flight officer, according to the military.
The experiment aims to determine whether slower planes like the Bronco can better support ground troops battling insurgents than more technologically advanced and expensive counterparts such as the F-15 Eagle and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets.
The idea is that older aircraft can more cost-effectively fly close air support missions to help U.S. ground troops and pilots better see and attack low-tech insurgents.
Retired naval aviator Cmdr. Chris Harmer praised the aircraft's reactivation, telling CNN it was "an excellent idea."
Harmer, now the senior naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, called the OV-10 a "great plane to fly" and said it was likely that U.S. pilots fought over who got the chance to fly it in combat.
Harmer told CNN that the planes were a much more cost-effective alternative than jets like the F-15 or F-35, the latter of which is estimated to cost more than $150 million each.
The Vietnam-era OV-10 Bronco turbo-propeller planes are part of an experiment to see if "light turbo-prop aircraft" are more effective in conducting counterinsurgency operations, a U.S. military representative told CNN this week.
During their deployment, the planes flew 120 combat missions against ISIS targets as part of the counter-ISIS coalition, said spokesman Capt. Bryant Davis of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East.
The Daily Beast first reported on the aircraft trials.
The OV-10s were operated by a two-person crew that consisted of a naval aviator and a Navy flight officer, according to the military.
The experiment aims to determine whether slower planes like the Bronco can better support ground troops battling insurgents than more technologically advanced and expensive counterparts such as the F-15 Eagle and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets.
The idea is that older aircraft can more cost-effectively fly close air support missions to help U.S. ground troops and pilots better see and attack low-tech insurgents.
Retired naval aviator Cmdr. Chris Harmer praised the aircraft's reactivation, telling CNN it was "an excellent idea."
Harmer, now the senior naval analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, called the OV-10 a "great plane to fly" and said it was likely that U.S. pilots fought over who got the chance to fly it in combat.
Harmer told CNN that the planes were a much more cost-effective alternative than jets like the F-15 or F-35, the latter of which is estimated to cost more than $150 million each.
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