The Air Force's plan to buy 100 new, "light" fighters could shake up the moribund U.S. aerospace industry. The plan, announced last month, aims to field a simple, inexpensive, armed plane capable of "strike, armed reconnaissance and advanced aircraft training in support of Irregular Warfare." Companies that might vie for the prize range from giants like Boeing, to mid-size foreign companies such as Embraer, and at least one start-up that doesn't even have a flying prototype yet.

While the contract value isn't likely to exceed a few hundred million dollars, that's enough to bump a small firm way up the ladder in the lucrative U.S. military aviation market – especially considering likely follow-on orders. With Lockheed Martin neatly dominating the market for manned, jet-powered fighters, any competition for other types of combat planes should be welcome.

Hawaii-based Stavatti Aerospace is surely one of the dark horses in the light-fighter race. CEO Chris Beskar said the company is pitching its Machete design, pictured. The Machete, which is apparently still just a paper concept, will boast a 30-millimeter cannon, armor, radar, a jammer, 700-mile range and a load of up to 10,000 pounds of missiles and bombs, according to Beskar. He called his plane "a 21st-century A-1 Skyraider." While it's unlikely to win, or even ever fly, you've got to admit: Machete looks pretty cool.

Truth be told, Hawker Beechcraft with its T-6 and Embraer with the Super Tucano have the advantage in this contest. The Pentagon already owns hundreds of T-6s for training purposes, and Iraq recently ordered seven modified to carry weapons. The Navy has leased several Super Tucanos for a special, experimental fighter program. But smaller companies – even previously unknown ones – might have a chance. What the Pentagon is asking for is not a particularly complex machine.

Consider that when the military went shopping for Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) blastproof trucks two years ago, several companies with little previous military experience snagged huge orders. The light-fighter program could create new defense contractors, in the same way that MRAP did – and in the same way that growing demand for drones recently elevated Predator-manufacturer General Atomics to the rarified ranks of U.S. fighter-makers.

[ART: Stavatti]

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