UAE's Tractor Factor

The UAE Air Force and Air Defence received an initial batch of 10 Air Tractor AT-802Us between November 2010 and May 2011, and further aircraft are now being delivered.

One was flown to the UAE in January 2012 and another followed in March. As many as six more have now been registered to Air Tractor, prior to delivery, almost certainly to the UAE.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) commented that the UAE’s purchase was “a remarkable low-tech choice for the high-tech UAE, and therefore possibly acquired to hand on to a less developed ally”.

Certainly the aircraft does not seem to fit comfortably alongside the UAE’s sophisticated Mirage 2000-9s and F-16E/F Desert Falcons.

The new AT-802Us are, however, not going to the regular air force, but to a shadowy new Special Forces air support unit being established as part of the UAE’s Special Operations Command. They are based at a new airport at Falaj Hazza camp on the outskirts of Al Ain.

The Air Tractor AT-802U was developed in response to the United States Air Force’s light attack/armed reconnaissance (LAAR) or light air support (LAS) programme, which was intended to provide a light ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft, though it became a requirement as a training aircraft for allied counter intelligence and close air support forces. Air Tractor estimated that its aircraft would cost half as much as other competitors.

While the USAF requirement stimulated the development of the AT-802U, it was always clear that there was a growing export requirement for such a light irregular warfare aircraft, and the AT-802U demonstrator was, therefore, displayed at the 2008 Paris Air Show.

In 2010, Lee Jackson, the chief designer at Air Tractor, announced that the company had launched production of the AT-802U surveillance, precision strike and utility aircraft for an undisclosed foreign customer. It was subsequently revealed that the UAE had become the first military buyer.

The AT-802U is a dedicated two-seat (tandem) military version of the basic Air Tractor agricultural aircraft, which has been built in a large number of sub-types, with more than 340 delivered to date.

The AT-802 is said to be the largest agricultural aircraft in production and in its AT-802F/AT-802AF and amphibious Fire Boss forms, the aircraft is claimed to be the world’s most successful single-engine fire-fighting aircraft.

Armoured versions of the AT-802 have been used by the US Department of State for counter-drug operations, spraying narcotics production facilities with herbicides and defoliants. Despite taking more than 200 small calibre hits, Department of State AT-802 aircrews have maintained a 100% safety record with no injury.

Like its agricultural forebears, the AT-802U was built to be operated from unimproved airfields, dirt roads, and even farm fields and to be maintained from the back of a truck. As such, it is able to provide direct support to ground troops operating close to the frontline, and can fly in extreme heat and dust conditions.

The aircraft’s payload capability and the space conferred by the former ‘hopper’ provide massive fuel capacity, which could be further expanded through the use of drop tanks on wing/fuselage hard points. Even without external fuel, the AT-802U can remain on station for up to ten hours, long after other fighters or ground attack aircraft would have had to return to base or go to the tanker.

The AT-802U is configured with tandem cockpits and full dual controls. It does not have ejection seats or pressurisation.

The airframe has a reinforced wing spar (certified for 12,000 flying hours) and some nine, 11 or even 15 hardpoints under the wings and fuselage for the carriage of up to 8,000 pounds of payload, including 500lb Mk 82 bombs or GBU12 laser-guided bombs, GAU-19/A three-barrel 12.7mm gun pods, M260 seven-round rocket launchers, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles or DAGR laser-guided rockets.

The aircraft also uses the new Moog Mini-Talon GPS/INS precision-guided stand-off glide bomb.

A retractable L3 Wescam MX-15Di sensor turret system is installed under the nose and the aircraft has a militarised, NVG-compatible glass cockpit. An optional ROVER-compatible CMDL allows live video to be streamed from the aircraft to controllers, other aircraft, or an air operations centre. The aircraft is also fitted with a Wulfsberg Flexcomm tactical modular multi-band airborne FM/AM/UHF radio communications system, which allows the pilot to communicate with practically any radio system used by ground units.