US Air Force going back to small liaison planes?

[WDD]

I don't think so. Way, way back when, The ADIZ covered the northern half of the state of Maine. Cub, Aeronca, T'carts, etc pilots now and then would head north into the ADIZ above 3'000. NORAD rarely failed to pick them up on radar.

I wouldn't use it to penetrate the US, but they'd be using to drop in on someplace in Africa, Middle East, Indochina, etc. where things may not be as sophisticated to pick up a cub?

 

[Velocity173]

http://www.defensetech.org/2011/09/23/the-cv-22s-800-mile-afghan-csar-mission/

This is the reality of what CSAR has been the last 20 years. The isolated person is either surrounded by hostile forces or they themselves are detained. That requires an aircraft big enough to carry an assault/ security team. That also requires an aircraft that are specifically designed to take punishment. In some cases due to terrain, a helicopter is required.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Linda_Norgrove

PR has really been a dead mission during the GWOT and OIF / OEF anyway. We shipped AF CSAR assets to Iraq and Afghanistan and they sat around twiddling their thumbs. Just wasn’t the shootdowns like we had in Vietnam and most were immediate recoveries that didn’t require dedicated CSAR units. But, in 2005 AF CSAR (HH-60) adapted and supplemented the Army in the MEDEVAC role...essentially because they were bored.

So while I admire the AF thinking outside the box, I believe they’re trying to develop a system that doesn’t have a need. They seem to be looking for a weakness with the current system when none actually exists.

 

[X3 Skier]

http://www.defensetech.org/2011/09/23/the-cv-22s-800-mile-afghan-csar-mission/

This is the reality of what CSAR has been the last 20 years. The isolated person is either surrounded by hostile forces or they themselves are detained. That requires an aircraft big enough to carry an assault/ security team. That also requires an aircraft that are specifically designed to take punishment. In some cases due to terrain, a helicopter is required.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Linda_Norgrove

PR has really been a dead mission during the GWOT and OIF / OEF anyway. We shipped AF CSAR assets to Iraq and Afghanistan and they sat around twiddling their thumbs. Just wasn’t the shootdowns like we had in Vietnam and most were immediate recoveries that didn’t require dedicated CSAR units. But, in 2005 AF CSAR (HH-60) adapted and supplemented the Army in the MEDEVAC role...essentially because they were bored.

So while I admire the AF thinking outside the box, I believe they’re trying to develop a system that doesn’t have a need. They seem to be looking for a weakness with the current system when none actually exists.

Agree, although the system could be useful when dedicated CSAR Assets aren’t available but a light aircraft is around. Hard to imagine that scenario and the logistics involved to preposition the LASH Gear for a “just in case” possibility.

What I think is useful is the testing of a assembly of “off the self” equipment rather than a specifically developed military set of gear for this type of mission. Wether it is a good idea to introduce it into the inventory and deploy the equipment is another question entirely.

Cheers