The announcement this week by Cessna parent Textron that it is pitching a new budget light attack jet to the Pentagon had us scratching our heads. The military hasn’t asked for anything like this, and with defense spending facing sharp cuts we have to ask if an airplane Textron calls the Scorpion stands any chance of making it into production.
Equally as puzzling is the choice of a partner for the project. Rather than enlist engineers at Cessna or Textron’s other aviation unit, Bell Helicopter, to lead the program, the company has instead formed a joint venture with a small startup called AirLand Enterprises, created by former defense officials including retired Air Force Secretary F. Whitten Peters.
