USSOCOM Armed Overwatch program included in FY2023 Defense Budget Request.

U.S. special operators need an eye-in-the-sky to look out for them as they operate in dangerous environments across the globe. And it's not always practical for that overwatch to come from high-end combat fighter jets, which are better suited for countering threats from nation-states. C. Todd Lopez, US DoD News, reports.

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The 5 contenders for USSOCOM's Armed Overwatch program: Top row, left to right: L-3 Communications Integrated Systems’ AT-802U Sky Warden; Textron Aviation Defense’s AT-6E Wolverine; MAG Aerospace’s MC-208 Guardian. Bottom row left to right: Leidos Inc.’s Bronco II; Sierra Nevada Corp.’s C-145. (Aircraft not to scale) (Picture source: Air Force Magazine/Mike Tsukamoto).

This year's budget request includes funding for U.S. Special Operations Command to advance efforts to put smaller aircraft, uniquely suited to Special Operations Forces needs, in the skies over special operators: "The budget ... supports the 'Armed Overwatch' program to ensure our SOF have the required support in remote and austere environments where they operate," said Christopher P. Maier, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, during testimony Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

About $246 million for nine aircraft was requested this year to support procurement within USSOCOM's Armed Overwatch program so that SOF deployed to remote locations can get the close air support, precision strike capability, airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities they need to execute their missions. 

"The investment into the Armed Overwatch program will ensure that this dedicated capability exists, allowing high-end fighter aircraft to orient towards other critical needs," wrote Maier in submitted testimony to the SASC. "The Armed Overwatch platform will deliver a capability that ensures our SOF can continue to operate wherever we need them, whenever they are needed." 

The budget request also seeks funding to support the SOF Undersea program, Maier said, which includes both manned and unmanned underwater systems to provide intelligence and transport capabilities to special operators. 

"We are working with the Department of the Navy to ensure the integration of modernized SOF operational concepts and investments intended to facilitate access in denied areas and greater range for longer periods of time with less risk to the operator," Maier said. 

Maier told lawmakers this is the first year that both the Armed Overwatch and the Undersea programs have been formally designated as "special interest" acquisition programs: " More comprehensive oversight so that any problems or issues may be identified early and rapidly remedied", Maier said. 

Also part of the budget request, Maier said, is continued funding to support USSOCOM's most important asset, which is its people: "As reflected in the FY23 budget, we continue to invest in the health and well-being of our SOF warriors and their families," he said. "Our flagship Preservation of the Force and Families program, or POTFF, complements service-administered programs to address the unique physical, cognitive, psychological and spiritual health needs of our SOF community." 

Maier also thanked lawmakers for allowing the POTFF program to be extended to Gold Star families — the families of SOF servicemen and women killed while on duty. Congress made that possible through language in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022.