Textron Eyes Scorpion CAS, T-X Missions: Textron AirLand's Scorpion jet continues to look for a first customer, but the company remains optimistic about the future of its ISR/light strike platform.
In a March interview, Bill Anderson, president of Textron AirLand, told Defense News that corporate backing for the jet remains strong despite not having signed a contract for the jet in the 18 months since it was unveiled to the public.
"We are very confident we will get a customer," Anderson said. "We haven't even discussed an end date. We're fully funded, we continue with the development, we're moving forward and we see no reason to stop."
The Scorpion got a recent boost in attention when Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the head of USAF Air Combat Command, indicated the Scorpion could be a fit for a future close air support (CAS) requirement.
Asked March 6 about the Scorpion as a potential fill-in for lower-end CAS operations, Carlisle replied: "It could. It could."
"That's not something that's outside the realm," he said. "It may be. We have gone out and looked at other platforms to see if they could meet the low-end CAS capacity at a reasonable cost-per-flying-hour, and we've looked at it and done some research. We're keeping our eyes open."
