Air Force Issues Draft RFP for Light Attack Aircraft Program

The U.S. Air Force has issued a draft solicitation for the Light Attack Aircraft program as the service prepares to release the final request for proposals in December.

The draft RFP comes after it wrapped up the Light Attack Experiment’s second phase that involved aircraft offerings from Textron and the Sierra Nevada–Embraer team, the Air Force said Monday.

Pilots kicked off a live-fly experiment this summer of the A-29 Super Tucano aircraft from Sierra Nevada and Embraer and AT-6B Wolverine from Textron’s aviation business to collect additional data about the planes’ interoperability with allied forces and other capabilities.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, said the Light Attack Aircraft provides the service an option to strengthen its capability to counter “violent extremism at lower cost.”

A FedBizOpps notice posted Friday says the military branch will accept responses to the draft RFP through Aug. 17 and plans to award a contract in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019.