AMR-June-July-2013

A I R P O W E R
C O U N T E R
I N S U R G E N C Y
Although the English Electric Canberra served with
the Royal Air Force for many years, its deployment
during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s
underscored the limitations of this aircraft in the
counter-insurgency role © Wikimedia Commons
of the Indonesian Defence Force's equipment
modernisation programme.
The Super Tucano is a mature and
proven mission-ready aircraft to replace
the TNI-AU’s (Indonesian Air Force’s)
fleet of OV-10 Broncos in support of light
attack, surveillance, aerial intercepts and
COIN missions. Modern COIN aircraft
such as the Super Tucano incorporate
advanced electronic/optical/infrared and
laser technology together with secure
radios plus datalink communications. The
The Cessna AT-37D Dragonfly was developed during the late-1950s/early-1960s as a counterinsurgency
aircraft. It served during the Vietnam War with the United States Air Force, and is
believed to remain in service with the Peruvian Air Force © Wikimedia Commons
Super Tucano is currently in service with
Brazil, the Dominican Republic,
Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and Burkina
Faso, and has been ordered by the
Angolan and Mauritanian air forces. The
A-29 Super Tucano was built specifically
for counter-insurgency missions and is
credited with helping the Colombian government
defeat the FARC guerilla movement.
Around 160 A-29s are now in operation
and they have logged 130,000 flight
hours, including over 18,000 combat
hours without any combat loss.
Budget deficits affect Washington as
much as anywhere else, but it surprised
many when USAF Chief of Staff General
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