Departure
87%
vs 95% ▼ 8
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
The Air Tractor AT-802 is a large single-engine turboprop built by the Texas manufacturer Air Tractor, conceived as the world's biggest single-engine agricultural aircraft but since adapted into one of the most widely used aerial firefighting platforms and, more recently, into armed and intelligence-gathering military variants. Its combination of a powerful PT6-series turboprop, a substantial hopper or tank slung ahead of the cockpit, and rugged simple construction has made it a familiar sight over crop fields and wildfires alike, and increasingly on the ramp of special operations squadrons.
The AT-802 is an American single-engine turboprop produced by Air Tractor of Olney, Texas, designed primarily as an agricultural sprayer but built with sufficient strength and payload capacity to be adapted for aerial firefighting and, in later derivatives, armed light-attack and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance work. It carries its chemical hopper, or in firefighting form its retardant or water tank, between the engine firewall and the cockpit, a layout inherited from Air Tractor's earlier agricultural designs. In United States wildfire operations it is classed as a Type III SEAT, or Single Engine Air Tanker, and it remains in continuous production.
The AT-802 first flew in the United States in October 1990 and has been in production ever since. It grew out of Air Tractor's earlier line of agricultural aircraft, the company having been founded in 1978 and having first built the AT-300, itself derived in form and function from the 1950s Ayres Thrush monoplane. The AT-802 represented a substantial step up from those earlier types, with a tandem-seat configuration, greater engine power and a longer wingspan enabling it to carry far larger loads of fertiliser or pesticide than its predecessors, and its versatility soon saw operators adapting it for firefighting duties. In response to the United States Air Force's LAAR programme and a growing requirement for light counter-insurgency aircraft, Air Tractor developed an armed model, the AT-802U, in 2008, fitted with engine and cockpit armour, a bulletproof windscreen, self-sealing fuel tanks and structural reinforcement to carry up to 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) of payload; its wing spar was certified for 12,000 hours of flight time, and the type was displayed at the 2009 Paris Air Show. The AT-802 has also served the U.S. Department of State in counter-drug operations in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility, spraying herbicides and defoliants over narcotics production facilities. Ten AT-802i aircraft were converted by IOMAX USA into an armed configuration carrying Roketsan Cirit 2.75 inch rockets and guided bombs for the United Arab Emirates Air Force, which operated them until November 2015 before replacing them with the first of 24 Archangels, a related but more extensively rebuilt airframe based on the Thrush Model 660. Six of the UAE's AT-802i aircraft were subsequently transferred to the Jordanian Air Force and a further three to Yemeni Government Forces, where they saw use in the 2015 Yemeni Civil War, and Emirati-operated aircraft flown by contract pilots have been reported over Libya. In January 2017 the US State Department approved a proposed sale of twelve AT-802 aircraft to the Kenya Defence Forces, though the contract remained unsigned as of June 2017. The most significant recent development came on 1 August 2022, when United States Special Operations Command announced it would purchase up to 75 AT-802U Sky Warden aircraft under its Armed Overwatch programme, with Air Tractor building the base airframes and L3Harris modifying them for the Armed Overwatch mission. The initial contract was valued at $170 million with a ceiling of $3 billion for the full fleet, structured around five squadrons of 15 aircraft, and the type has since been given the military designation OA-1K, entering service to replace the ageing U-28A Draco; initial service entry is expected in 2026 with full operating capability by 2029.
The AT-802 carries its payload, whether agricultural chemical, firefighting retardant or water, in a hopper or tank mounted between the engine firewall and the cockpit. In its standard configuration it uses conventional landing gear with two main wheels and a tail wheel, though many airframes have been converted to the Fire Boss configuration on Wipaire 10000 amphibious floats, allowing operation from a runway or by scooping water directly from a lake or river. The standard fuselage-mounted retardant tank holds 820 US gallons (3,100 L), and Fire Boss aircraft can be fitted with optional 35 US gallon (130 L) foam tanks housed in the floats; float-equipped aircraft have been shown to produce a shorter and narrower retardant drop pattern than wheeled AT-802s. The agricultural AT-802A, described by the manufacturer as the world's largest single-engine ag aircraft, is powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-65AG rated at 1,295 shaft horsepower at 1,700 rpm, driving a Hartzell HC-B5MP-3F/M11276NS propeller. It has a maximum take-off and landing weight of 16,000 lb (7,257 kg), an empty weight with spray equipment of 6,751 lb (3,062 kg) and a useful load of 9,249 lb (4,195 kg), with an 800 US gallon (3,028 L) hopper and 254 US gallon (961 L) fuel capacity. Wing span is 59.2 ft (18.04 m) with a wing area of 401 sq ft (37.29 sq m), on main wheels sized 11.00-12 and a tail wheel of 17.5 x 6.25-6. The military AT-802U is fitted with a more powerful Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67F, rated at 1,600 shaft horsepower (uninstalled) at 40.3 degrees C and 1,700 rpm for take-off, with the same continuous rating at 27.5 degrees C, and is built with engine and cockpit armour, a bulletproof windscreen, self-sealing fuel tanks and a reinforced wing spar certified for 12,000 flight hours to support weapons carriage.
In AT-802A form the aircraft cruises at 191 mph (166 kt) at 8,000 ft, with a typical working speed of 130 to 160 mph (113 to 139 kt) during spraying operations. Economy cruise range at 8,000 ft is 610 miles (982 km). Stall speed is 107 mph (92 kt) flaps up and 91 mph (79 kt) flaps down, both quoted at the maximum weight of 16,000 lb (7,257 kg), while stall speed as usually landed, presumably at a lighter operating weight, is 63 mph (54 kt). Rate of climb at maximum weight is 780 fpm, and take-off distance at 16,000 lb is 2,000 ft. The military AT-802U Sky Warden variant, in its Armed Overwatch role, offers a six-hour loiter endurance at a 200 nautical mile (230 mi; 370 km) combat radius.
The base AT-802 is a two-seat aircraft with a tandem cockpit, while the AT-802A is the single-seat agricultural version and the largest single-engine ag aircraft on the market. The AT-802U is a two-seat, armoured military derivative modified with sensors and reinforced structure for weapons carriage; the L3Harris OA-1K Skyraider II is an ISR strike aircraft based on the AT-802U, selected in August 2022 as the winner of the US Special Operations Command Armed Overwatch programme with an initial buy of six airframes. The AT-802F, or AT-802AF, is the dedicated aerial firefighting model, equipped with the Air Tractor Computerized Firegate developed and serviced by Trotter Controls Inc, and the AT-802F Fire Boss adds Wipaire amphibious floats for operation from land or water. The AT-802L Longsword is an ISR and light-attack aircraft based on the AT-802U, developed through a collaboration between L3 Platform Integration and Air Tractor, and rebranded by L3 as the OA-8 Longsword for the Asia-Pacific region.
The AT-802 family is widely used by aerial application and firefighting operators around the world. Civil operators include Tassili Travail Aerien in Algeria with six firefighting AT-802s, Kennedy Air and Aerotech in Australia operating AT-802F Fire Boss aircraft, Cargolux in Belgium with Fire Boss examples, and in Canada Air Spray, Buffalo Airways, Conair Group and Early Bird Air. AG Aviation operates the type across the Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, MUS AG Aviation operates in Ethiopia, Kishugu Aviation provides firefighting services in South Africa, and Air Spray also operates the type in the United States. On the military and government side, the Croatian Air Force flies the AT-802A, while the armed AT-802i variant equipped the United Arab Emirates Air Force until November 2015, after which six aircraft were transferred to the Jordanian Air Force and three to Yemeni Government Forces, the latter seeing combat use in the 2015 Yemeni Civil War; Emirati-operated aircraft flown by contract pilots have also been reported over Libya. A proposed sale of twelve aircraft to the Kenya Defence Forces was approved by the US State Department in January 2017. Most significantly, the United States Special Operations Command selected the AT-802U as the basis for its Armed Overwatch programme in August 2022, ordering up to 75 aircraft under the military designation OA-1K Skyraider II to replace the U-28A Draco in low-cost armed ISR missions from austere locations.