North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco

The North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco is a twin-turboprop light attack and observation aircraft with short takeoff and landing ability, and it was the first aircraft designed specifically for counter-insurgency and limited war. The idea came in the early 1960s from two United States Marine Corps officers, W.H. Beckett and K.P. Rice, and the North American Aviation and Rockwell NA-300 design was chosen in August 1964 under the tri-service Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft requirement. The prototype flew on 16 July 1965; later demands for armor, fuel and weapons made production aircraft much larger than the prototype, and the first OV-10A was delivered in June 1967 and entered service in October 1969. Flown by the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy and sold to several other countries, it was used heavily in Vietnam as a forward air control aircraft and has flown in later conflicts.