The use of crop-duster aircraft as combat aircraft is nothing new, and it seems the United States is simply following a global trend, because the agricultural aircraft are relatively cheap and easy to maintain.
U.S. Air Force (USAF) Special Operations Command (SOC) loves its latest crop-duster, the OA-1K, which is actually based on the Air Tractor (based in Olney, Texas) crop-duster and fire-fighting aircraft. The USAF boasts that its new Skyraider-2 is “cost effective”. Air Tractor calls their combat crop-duster the AT-802U Sky Warden (the AT-802 first flew in 1990).
In January 2025, the finalized version of the crop-duster on steroids arrived on Hurlburt Field, Florida. In February, USAF-SOC christened the OA-1K the “Skyraider-2”.
On 03APR2025, the USAF-SOC officially accepted its first OA-1K during a ceremony on Hurlburt Field: “Skyraider-2 represents not just a new platform, but a modular solution to our national security needs. It will redefine how we approach joint campaigning, crisis response and the evolving landscape of modern warfare.”-Lieutenant General Michael Conley, SOC commander.
I edited this together from two USAF promotional videos:
The Skyraider-2 is already being offered for sale to Central American and Caribbean countries. On 27AUG2024, the OA-1K was flown to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, being presented during the Industry Day/Air Chiefs conference for the air forces of those countries.
Actually, most A-10C units are turning in their Thunderbolt-2s for the F-35 Lightning-2. The OA-1K Skyraider-2 is specifically a ‘special operations’ aircraft, the crew are known as Air Commandos.
This is the AT-802U trainer version.
Training on the OA-1K will officially take place on Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, in Oklahoma. Interestingly, the training version has been arriving on Will Rogers Air National Guard Base since July 2024, months before the official acceptance of the OA-1K.
The A-10C:
