While the Air Force and some in Congress muse about a fleet of low-cost light attack aircraft (and seem to prefer mostly foreign-derived designs) there are two American-designed counterterrorism and close air support aircraft in service overseas. Just before he left office, President Barack Obama approved the sale of 12 weaponized Air Tractor AT-802U single-engine turboprops to Kenya for a total price of $413 million. There are also a couple AT-504 trainers included. L-3 is integrating all the missiles and guns, all of which are up-to-date munitions used on mainstream fighters and attack aircraft in the U.S. inventory. Airforcetechnology.com says the Air Tractors, which are hardened versions of the cropduster, will fill gaps that the Kenyan Defense Force's aging fleet of F-5s have in engaging al Shabaab terrorists. The United Arab Emirates has been using Air Tractors for years and recently added another American design to its light attack fleet.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/recent-updates/business-military/cropduster-attack-aircraft-in-service