Armed Overwatch

Armed Overwatch program
Clockwise, from top left: The AT-6B Wolverine, A-29 Super Tucano, AT-802L Longsword, and M28B 1R Bryza (variant of C-145A).
Outcome	AT-802U Sky Warden selected

The Armed Overwatch program is an effort launched by U.S. Special Operations Command to purchase roughly 75 crewed, fixed-wing aircraft to perform close air support, precision strike, and ISR missions.^[1] The Air Tractor-L3Harris AT-802U Sky Warden system was selected to deliver this capability.^[2]

SOCOM plans to use the system as a replacement for the U-28A Draco aircraft for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance flights in remote areas. The U-28As will reach the end of their service life soon, so the Armed Overwatch program is being conducted rapidly, with the aim of selecting a design, retraining crews, and fielding the new aircraft without causing "a decrease in capacity on the battlefield."^[3]

Armed Overwatch and its predecessor programs are distinct from the Light Air Support program, a U.S. Air Force competition to select a turboprop attack aircraft for use by the Afghan Air Force, not by U.S. forces.^[4]