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Boeing Will Arm South Africa’s Weird Plane

This weird plane will soon get weapons. Probably normal weapons, maybe weird weapons too. South Africa’s AHRLAC is a weird bird. With a narrow, high body, and stadium seating for the pilot and sensor operator, it looks like a rough draft for an F-4 phantom. A pusher prop and slightly forward-swept wings seem like an…

This weird plane will soon get weapons. Probably normal weapons, maybe weird weapons too.

South Africa’s AHRLAC is a weird bird. With a narrow, high body, and stadium seating for the pilot and sensor operator, it looks like a rough draft for an F-4 phantom. A pusher prop and slightly forward-swept wings seem like an aviation mistake from the First World War. Built as a bushwacking scout, able to operate from rough fields without runways, AHRLAC is an odd drone alternative, a peopled plane built to do a drone’s job. Now, thanks to a deal Paramount (AHRLAC's maker) struck with Boeing, it’s going to get weapons.

via www.msn.com

Yeah, that's one weird looking plane. On the other hand, with the exception of the pusher turboprop, it has a similar layout to the OV-10 Bronco, in a somewhat smaller aircraft.

Add a sensor ball, and maybe the APKWS guided 70mm rocket, and you might have a handy little light attack aircraft.

Click through to the article to see this weird little plane.

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Responses to “Boeing Will Arm South Africa’s Weird Plane”

  1. Esli

    Interesting looking aircraft. Would like to see some other views of it, but no time for research.
    I guess that nobody let the company know that digital Universal Camouflage Pattern was now passé.
    I STILL want my upgraded P47 as the next COIN CAS platform, but hey.

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  2. KenWats

    I don’t see an F-4 Phantom in that plane anywhere.

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  3. LT Rusty

    Gotta use your imagination a little, Ken. Nose is narrow, with flat sides. RIO sits higher than the pilot, and the canopy has a little hump to it. Square-ish air intakes to either side.
    Etc.
    It’s a nifty looking little plane. I don’t think I’d hate to see a few of those in our inventory, tbh.

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  4. SFC Dunlap 173d RVN

    On the aft end I see an Australian Sky Truk.

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  5. SCOTTtheBADGER

    The child of a OV-10 and a Skymaster.

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