An AT-6 aircraft during the US Air Force's Light Attack Experiment at Holloman Air Force Base. US Air Force Photo by Ethan D. Wagner
Business Insider: US Special Operations Command has big plans for its new fleet of small attack planes
* US Special Operations Command is seeking its own light aircraft to back up operators on the ground.
* Congress and the Air Force remain wary, but SOCOM has moved ahead, narrowing the competition to five potential aircraft.
For the past few years, a low-intensity conflict has raged inside the Pentagon over how US special-operations forces are going to counter terrorist and extremist organizations in an era of great-power competition against China and Russia.
The US Special Operations Command's desire for its own small special-operations aircraft to support its units is at the heart of the debate.
Commandos want to have their own cheap aircraft and not have to depend on fighter jets, such as the F-22 or the F-35, that cost between $30,000 to $70,000 an hour to operate.
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Update: US Special Operations Command Has Big Plans for its Armed Overwatch Attack Planes (SOFREP)
WNU Editor: The talk in the Pentagon is to get prepared for peer-to-peer conflicts. But this push by US Special Operations Command to have their own fleet of small attack planes tells me that the Pentagon expects low-intensity conflicts to continue.
