U.S. Navy Pilot Pronounced Dead In A-29 Super Tucano Crash At White Sands Missile Range

more at
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...-missile-range

On Friday, June 22nd, 2018, an A-29 Super Tucano light attack plane crashed on
the Red Rio Bombing and Gunnery Range located north of Holloman Air Force Base
in New Mexico. The USAF's second phase of the Light Attack Experiment was set to
officially begin later that day at Holloman, in which the AT-6 and A-29 would
demonstrate their capabilities. The A-29 crashed before the maneuvers began and
we heard one of its two crew escaped the incident with minor injuries, with no
further information being released about the second flyer's condition. Sadly, we
now have confirmation that the second crewman died as a result of the mishap.

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The accident is under investigation and we don't even know the nature of mishap
at this time. The A-29 is a proven light attack platform that serves in often
harsh conditions for a number of operators around the globe. The USAF flies the
aircraft to training foreign students, namely those of the Afghan Air Force. One
USAF A-29 crash did occur in 2017 that involved an A-29 losing power, resulting
in both pilots ejecting. Nobody died in that incident.

The crash is certain to loom large over the USAF's Light Attack Experiment and a
struggling initiative to field either the A-29 or the AT-6 to Air Force combat
squadrons. The USMC is also looking to procure a similar aircraft but for
somewhat different purposes. In fact, at this time we don't even know if the
second flight demonstration phase of the program will continue at Holloman AFB
in the coming week.

Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrae...4_Super_Tucano

The Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano, also named ALX or A-29, is a Brazilian
turboprop light attack aircraft designed and built by Embraer as a development
of the Embraer EMB 312 Tucano.

In August 1995, the Brazilian Ministry of Aeronautics awarded Embraer a $50
million contract for ALX development. Two EMB-312Hs were updated to serve as ALX
prototypes. These made their initial flights in their new configuration in 1996
and 1997, respectively. The initial flight of a production-configured ALX,
further modified from one of the prototypes, occurred on 2 June 1999. The second
prototype was brought up to two-seater configuration and performed its first
flight on 22 October 1999. The changes had been so considerable that the type
was given a new designation, the EMB-314 Super Tucano. The total cost of the
aircraft development was quoted to be between US$200 million and US$300 million.

One Super Tucano was purchased by a subsidiary of Blackwater Worldwide, an
American private military contractor. The aircraft lacked the machine guns
normally attached to the wings. In 2012, that aircraft was subsequently
purchased by Tactical Air Support, Inc., of Reno, Nevada.

In 2008, the U.S. Navy began testing the Super Tucano at the behest of the U.S.
Special Operations Command for its potential use to support special warfare
operations, giving it the official U.S. designation A-29B.

In 2009, the Super Tucano was offered in a U.S. Air Force competition for 100
counterinsurgency aircraft. On 12 April 2010, Brazil signed a defensive pact
that opened negotiations for the acquisition of 200 Super Tucanos by the U.S. On
16 November 2011, the AT-6 was excluded from the LAS program, effectively
selecting the Super Tucano. According to GAO: "the Air Force concluded that HBDC
had not adequately corrected deficiencies in its proposal... that multiple
deficiencies and significant weaknesses found in HBDC’s proposal make it
technically unacceptable and results in unacceptable mission capability risk".
Hawker Beechcraft's protest against its exclusion was dismissed. However, the
contract award was disputed and a stop-work was issued in January 2012.

Specifications (EMB 314 Super Tucano)

General characteristics
Crew: Pilot plus one navigator/student in tandem on Martin Baker Mk 10 LCX
zero-zero ejection seats
Payload: 1,500 kg (3,307 lb)
Length: 11.38 m (37 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 11.14 m (36 ft 6.5 in)
Height: 3.97 m (13 ft 0.25 in)
Wing area: 19.4 m2 (208.8 sq ft)
Empty weight: 3,200 kg (7,055 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 5,400 kg (11,905 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68C turboprop, 1,196 kW (1,600 shp)
Propellers: Hartzell 5-blade constant speed, fully feathering, reversible-pitch
propeller

Performance
Maximum speed: 590 km/h (319 knots, 367 mph)
Cruise speed: 520 km/h (281 knots, 323 mph)
Stall speed: 148 km/h (80 knots, 92 mph)
g-limit: +7/-3.5 g)
Range: 720 nmi (827 mi, 1,330 km)
Combat radius: 550 km (300 nmi, 342 mi) (hi-lo-hi profile, 1,500 kg (3,300 lb)
of external stores)[206]
Ferry range: 1,541 nmi (1,774 mi, 2,855 km)
Endurance: 8hrs 24mins[207]
Service ceiling: 10,668 m (35,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 16.4 m/s (3,242 ft/min)

Armament

Guns:
Internal: (2×) 12.7 mm (0.50 in) 1,100 rounds per minute FN Herstal M3P machine
guns, one in each wing.
pod: 1 20 mm (0.79 in) 650 rounds per minute GIAT M20A1 cannon below the
fuselage.
pod: 1 12.7 mm (0.50 in) FN Herstal HMP for M3P machine gun under each wing
pod: up to 4 7.62 mm (0.30 in) 3,000 rounds per minute Dillon Aero M134 Minigun
(under development) under wings.

Hardpoints: 5 (two under each wing and one under fuselage centreline) with a
capacity of 1,550 kg (3,300 lb)
Rockets:
(4x) pods 70 mm (2.75 in) LM-70/19(SBAT-70)
(4x) pods 70 mm (2.75 in) LAU-68A/G

Missiles:
Air-to-air: AIM-9L Sidewinder
MAA-1A Piranha
MAA-1B Piranha (under development)
Python 3
Python 4

Air-to-ground: AGM-65 Maverick
Roketsan Cirit

General-purpose bombs: (10x) Mk 81
(5x) Mk 82[8]
M-117[211]

Incendiary bombs: BINC-300

Cluster bombs: BLG-252

Precision-guided bombs: FPG-82 (under development) Friuli Aeroespacial INS/GPS
guidance kit for Mk 82.
SMKB-82[213] – INS/GPS guidance kit for Mk 82.
GBU-54 (under development)
GBU-38 (under development)
GBU-39 (under development)
Paveway II
Lizard – Elbit laser guidance kit.
Griffin – IAI laser guidance kit.



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