The North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco is a twin-turboprop light attack and observation (O) aircraft with short takeoff and landing (V) capability designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer North American Rockwell. It was the first aircraft to be specifically designed to conduct counter-insurgency (COIN) and limited war operations. The OV-10 emerged as a concept during the early 1960s by W.H. Beckett and K.P. Rice, having been originally conceived to be a rugged, simple, close-air-support aircraft integrated with frontline ground operations, suitable for operating from the unimproved surfaces of forward operating bases (FOBs), flying at slow to medium subsonic speeds, and possessing much longer loiter times than a jet aircraft, partially by adopting efficient turboprop engines instead of using jet propulsion or piston engines. It was specifically designed to perform the COIN mission as well as to function as a forward air control (FAC) aircraft. In 1963, the Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (LARA) requirement for such an aircraft was issued; one year later, the NA-300, subsequently designated as the OV-10, was selected. The prototype OV-10 performed its maiden flight on 16 July 1965. Subsequent production aircraft were considerably larger than the prototype due to various late stage requirements, including armor for the crew and engines and an expanded capacity for both armaments and fuel, necessitating longer wings and uprated engines. The first production OV-10A was delivered in June 1967 and was introduced to service in October 1969. It could carry up to 3,200 lb (1,450 kg) of external munitions and internal loads such as paratroopers or stretchers, and could remain on station for at least three hours. The OV-10 became one of the premier COIN aircraft of the Cold War era, being operated by the United States Air Force (USAF), United States Marine Corps (USMC), and United States Navy (USN). Furthermore, the type was exported and sold to a number of other countries. The first major combat use of the type was the Vietnam War, during which it was used extensively in the FAC role. In the Vietnam theatre alone, 81 OV-10s were lost to a variety of causes; divided by service, the USAF lost 64 aircraft, the USN lost 7, and the USMC lost 10. The USMC's last combat deployment of the OV-10 was during Operation Desert Storm, where the type's slow speed, low-altitude flight, and lack of infrared countermeasures was thought to have made the type more vulnerable to Iraqi anti-aircraft fire. Following the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the type was withdrawn from US military service; the retired aircraft were typically reused for a wide variety of purposes, including numerous export sales to overseas operators. During the 2010s, the USAF briefly resumed operation of the OV-10 for Operation Inherent Resolve, flying combat missions over Iraq and Syria in support of special forces. The Royal Moroccan Air Force have flown their OV10s on COIN operations against Polisario forces in the Western Sahara War. The Indonesian Air Force performed live combat missions with their OV-10s on multiple occasion, such as during the 2003–2004 Indonesian offensive in Aceh to provide air support for airborne landings in Banda Aceh and Takengon. The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has used the type to conduct air strikes against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front as well as during the Battle of Marawi.
Development
Background The origins of the OV-10 can be traced back to the late 1950s, at which point several officials within both the United States Air Force (USAF) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) began advocating for a cost-effective fixed wing aircraft that could perform both the forward air control (FAC) role in addition to supporting counter-insurgency (COIN) operations. While jet-powered fighters had proven to be suitable for numerous combat roles, it was becoming increasingly recognised that they were simply too quick to be effectively used as COIN aircraft. Since 1947, this mission had been performed by the Cessna O-1 Bird Dog observation aircraft, but this had proved to be somewhat vulnerable; it was also felt by some figures that helicopters were too slow to be dependable for COIN operations. Around this time, the United States Army had been experimenting with armed helicopters; however, figures within the USMC were skeptical that rotorcraft could carry sufficiently heavy armaments. The concept for the aircraft has been attributed to an informal collaboration between W.H. Beckett and K.P. Rice of the USMC, who had both flown Vought F4U Corsairs in the late 1940s and later became neighbors in Santa Ana, California. They had observed the trend towards procuring increasingly sophisticated and complex fighters, and noted that the close air support mission was more appropriately performed by durable and slower conventional aircraft that could operate close to ground forces and remain on station for an extended period due to its sufficient endurance. Such an aircraft would be simplistic, relatively easy to maintaining, and compatible with operating from austere airstrips and unimproved landing surfaces to permit combat battalions to directly access their own aircraft. Furthermore, Beckett and Rice formulated that a pair of turboprop engines would be the optimum powerplant configuration. Weapons were to be mounted on the centerline, an arrangement that provided for efficient unranged aiming. Beckett and Rice favored strafing weapons, such as self-loading recoilless rifles, which could deliver aimed explosive shells with less recoil than cannons, and a lower per-round weight than rockets. The airframe was to be designed to avoid the back blast. Beckett and Rice developed a basic platform meeting these requirements, then attempted to build a fiberglass prototype within Rice's garage. Following efforts to promote the concept, the pair garnered a group of enthusiastic supporters within multiple services, although some figures believed that the envisioned aircraft lacked sufficient payload. Rice states:
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