What did the USAF do with the G.91R/1?

Short answer

The USAF evaluated ten G.91R/1s in 1961-1962 with a view to a possible purchase. Earlier, in early 1961, four G.91s had arrived in the US for Army trials in Alabama and New Mexico as a possible forward air control aircraft; the Army later handed all its fixed-wing activity to the Air Force.

Published: October 31, 2026 · Updated: October 31, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

North American F-86A Sabre

Four aircraft to Alabama and New Mexico

In early 1961, four G.91s crossed the Atlantic to be evaluated in the United States. The customer for those first trials was not the Air Force but the US Army, and the tests took place in Alabama and New Mexico. What the Army was studying was the type's use as a possible Forward Air Control aircraft. The service later handed over all its fixed-wing aircraft activity to the Air Force, and the possible purchase of the G.91 did not go ahead.

Ten G.91R/1s in evaluation

The variant in question was the G.91R/1, a light attack and reconnaissance version with a modified nose housing three cameras. The US Air Force evaluated the G.91 in 1961 with a view to a possible purchase, and ten G.91R/1s went through that evaluation between 1961 and 1962.

The program that did grow was the European one

Meanwhile, the G.91 became established in Europe. Germany ordered 294 aircraft built domestically under license; Dornier manufactured the center fuselage section and handled final assembly and flight testing within the Flugzeug-Union Süd consortium. The first G.91 built in Germany flew on July 20, 1961, from Oberpfaffenhofen airfield. The German version, the G.91R/3, was armed with two 30 mm DEFA cannons.

The United States also played a role as a funder. Fifty aircraft were built under the US Military Assistance Program for Greece and Turkey, similar to the G.91R/3 but armed with four 12.7 mm Colt-Browning machine guns; of these, ten ended up in West Germany and the remaining forty went to Portugal.