Light Airplanes Boost Close Air Support

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/dti/2010/02/01/DT_02_01_2010_p36-199152.xml

As mechanized forces bog down in the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan, low-tech solutions to problems become more attractive. One of these is the use of small, simple aircraft to replace jets for the close air support (CAS), armed reconnaissance and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions that dominate air operations.

The U.S. Air Force, Army and Royal Air Force are fielding reconnaissance aircraft based on the Hawker Beechcraft King Air business aircraft, acting as a surrogate for over-subscribed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The U.S. has provided the rebuilt Iraqi air force with Cessna 208 Caravan single-engine transports, equipped with defensive missile-approach warning systems, infrared (IR)/laser-designation systems and pylons for Hellfire missiles, as multipurpose reconnaissance and attack assets. The U.K. deploys the smaller Diamond DA42, a twin-engine light aircraft with jet fuel-burning diesel engines, for ISR.