USAF's Wily Coyote takes shape
On 26 October 2021, as expected, Polish company PZL Mielec and US company Sierra Nevada showcased their new MC-145B attack aircraft destined for US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).
In May 2021, Scramble Magazine wrote about contracts that were awarded to companies for the US Armed Overwatch Programme (AOP).
PZL Mielec Aerospace company, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Poland, and the private contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation, partner for the programme, showcased, what is probably the first US Air Force example, their new MC-145B Special Operations Multi-Role Aircraft (SOMA) in a hangar at Warsaw-Babice Airport (Poland).
Strikingly, the MC-145B SOMA, which has already affectively named 'Wily Coyote', was already painted in retro USAF colours. It is most probable that the PZL Mielec M28 Bryza derative with US registration number N590QP (construction number AJE00343) will be used by the USAF and Sierra Nevada as a prototype aircraft for sensors and weapons testing.
At this moment it is unknown if more MC-145Bs will be used for testing in the US. Work under the prototype project will be mainly performed at Eglin AFB (FL) and is expected to be completed by March 2022. It is expected that the follow-on contract will be an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity, with a base 5-year ordering period and 2-year option ordering period and an estimated quantity of 75 aircraft with associated support.
Photos by Lockheed Martin/PZL Mielec