Page 39 - Combat Aircraft (January 2020)

branch of the military, all JTACs must employment aligned with training A-27 — a nod to the T-27 designation the
perform a certain number of di erent needs and scheduling. Valkyrie Aero is Brazilian Air Force applied to its EMB-312s
types of attack controls to gain or retain one such company, speci cally oriented tasked with pilot training. Building an
their certi cations. Historically, front-line towards ensuring that JTACs receive the all-Tucano eet aligns with Valkyrie’s goal
combat squadrons provided the pilots, required support to enable their ongoing of acquiring aircraft that met the criteria of
aircraft, and ordnance JTACs to meet their certi cation. Valkyrie chief operating o cer what JTACs need in a CAS platform.
needs, but the pilot shortage, coupled with Todd McCutchan told Combat Aircraft, ‘We Explaining Valkyrie’s acquisition
the increased use of multi-role aircraft with started in February 2018. There seemed philosophy, McCutchan said, ‘We
a broad range of mission sets beyond CAS, to be a gap in the quality and quantity approached this from the standpoint of,
has limited the opportunities for overlap in of support for the JTAC training mission if we’re going to train JTACs, let’s talk to
the training schedules of the JTACs and the in the US and abroad. We started the [them] and see what they want, and then
aviators who support them. This comes at company after identifying what we felt was we’ll buy the airplane and equipment that
a time when the US military — particularly a weakness there; where we thought that the JTACs want for their training.’
the USAF and USMC — is anticipating we could bring something to the market, Valkyrie’s leadership had an existing
signi cant growth in the demand for JTACs as well as to the customer, to improve their relationship with an individual in the US
over the next decade. training and readiness to deploy.’ who owned a large number of Tucanos
Based at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona, and it secured that eet, the EMB-312Fs
Commercial solutions Valkyrie operates a mixed eet of a dozen coming from ex-French Air Force stocks,
One solution to the pilot shortage and Embraer EMB-312F and 20 Shorts S312 and the S312s being former Royal Air
its impact on JTAC training is the use of Tucanos. As both are con gured — or Force machines.
contract close air support (CCAS) services are being recon gured — for pure attack Whereas several of the more established
to provide both inert and live ordnance work, Valkyrie refers to both variants as the contract air service providers aim to

Based at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona, Valkyrie
Aero is positioned to support JTAC training
over the numerous aerial gunnery ranges
throughout the southwestern US.

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 39

21/11/2019 21:00
38-44 Valkyrie Aero C.indd 39
38-44 Valkyrie Aero C.indd 39 21/11/2019 21:00