Can Scorpion jet fight its way to success?
When commercial aircraft product launches are stage-managed with a careful unveiling of billions of dollars worth of orders from a few hand-picked customers, the sight of a new military aircraft propelled into development with no announced buyers can come across as a rarity bordering on reckless.
Selling military aircraft is already a hard business, subject to feckless stewards in the acquisition offices, unreliable support in the political class and shifting requirements from an, often exclusive, primary customer. But at least the development cost is usually paid by the taxpayer, freeing the contractor from the risk of a wholly profitless venture. Remove that development subsidy and the whole business looks unfriendly to all but high-stakes gamblers.
Into this marketing maelstrom in 2013 was thrown the Textron AirLand Scorpion, a twin-engined fighter with three plausible military missions: intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; light attack; and advanced jet training.
Read More https://www.flightglobal.com
