Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz has apparently said the Air Force is buying light attack aircraft — like the AT-6 — but not for its own use, as some thought late last year.

“What you’re suggesting here is we need a light strike, light attack platform to perform our organic requirements and I would argue that there is a limited need for that. Again, with the platforms that we already have in our force structure, in our capability, we can service any close-air support requirement. As simple as that”…

The Air Force’s sole purpose for buying the light aircraft, Schwartz said, is to help poorer nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan establish air forces…

Airmen will learn to fly the light aircraft and then train their foreign counterparts to fly the planes. Once the training is over, the Air Force will not simply hand over the light attack aircraft. Schwartz, however, does expect the aircraft to be high on the nations’ wish lists.