Royal Jordanian Air Force Receives IOMAX-upgraded Air Tractor Border Patrol Aircraft (BPA)

Royal Jordanian Air Force is to officially receive back into service the first IOMAX Air Tractor AT-802 Border Patrol Aircraft (BPA) that has been upgraded by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the United States. The defense news and analysis company reported that a ceremony marking the delivery of the first of six Air Tractor-based turboprop airframes that are to be upgraded in the US and Jordan held at IOMAX’s Mooresville facility in North Carolina on 22 October. The event attended by the Chief of the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF), Brigadier General Mohammad Hiyasat, and other senior dignitaries.

Ten AT-802i were converted by IOMAX USA into an armed configuration with Roketsan Cirit 2.75″ rockets and guided bombs for the United Arab Emirates Air Force. The UAE operated them until November 2015 when they were replaced by the first three of 24 Archangels on order from Iomax. The Archangel is based on a similar cropduster airframe, that of the Thrush Model 660, however to create the Archangel the basic Model 660 undergoes a much more extensive rebuild in the course of its militarization. Six of the UAE AT-802i were transferred to the Jordanian Air Force.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) gifted six IOMAX Archangels to the Royal Jordanian Air Force in 2013.

The Royal Jordanian Air Force also acquired four Air Tractor/L-3-built AT-802U Sky Warden from the U.S. The IOMAX Archangel and The AT-802U Sky Warden are different platforms, even though they are derived from the Air Tractor AT-802. The AT-802U Sky Warden is an ISR Strike Aircraft based on AT-802U. The AT-802U was selected in August 2022 as the winner of the United States Special Operations Command Armed Overwatch programme, with an initial buy of 6 airframes. The Air Tractor AT-802 is an American agricultural aircraft that may also be adapted into fire-fighting or armed versions.

The IOMAX Archangel is a combat proven attack platform that fuses aircraft, crew, sensors, and weapons with long duration on-station times. Archangel seamlessly flows between the Find, Fix, and Finish tasks on station, capable of employing GBU-12/58 Laser Guided Bombs, AGM-114 Hellfire, and CIRIT 2.75” Laser Guided Rockets. In addition to Special Operations direct support missions, Archangel is perfectly suited to Strike Coordination and Reconnaissance (SCAR), Forward Air Controller (Airborne) (FAC(A)), Base Defense, and Convoy Escort missions. Such as the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano, the Archangel and AT-802U are being marketed as low-cost high capability COIN assets.