USSOCOM on track to receive 31 OA-1Ks by end of FY 2026

A US Air Force OA-1K Skyraider II at Hurlburt Field, Florida, in January 2025. (AFSOC)

United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) anticipates it will receive 31 of its planned 53 L3Harris OA-1K Skyraider II aircraft by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2026, the service told Janes .

USSOCOM told Janes it is on track to deliver 11 OA-1Ks for Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) by the end of FY 2026, increasing the total to 31 aircraft.

USSOCOM currently has 20 aircraft designated for the Armed Overwatch programme, US Air Force (USAF) officials said in July 2026.

Colonel John Dayton, USAF program executive acquisition officer for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) & special operations forces (SOF), told reporters on 27 July that he sees Skyraider II's mission as essential for close air support.

“I do think it can continue to be a critical platform for that close air support mission that it provides, and some of the architecture benefits that have been created in that programme, I think, are going to continue to keep it relevant,” Dayton told reporters at the 2026 Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Life Cycle Industry Days event in Dayton, Ohio.

The USSOCOM contract runs until FY 2029 and the command originally planned to buy 75 Skyraiders, but a December 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report spurred the service to reevaluate the need for its fleet as mission needs changed and new capabilities were added to the aircraft.

The FY 2027 USSOCOM budget request said that the programme would be reduced from a previous 62 aircraft to 53 aircraft, reflecting the “strategic reallocation of resources to support USSOCOM evolving priorities”.

USSOCOM told Janes