WICHITA, Kan. (Feb. 3, 2016) - Beechcraft Defense Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, today announced it has signed a contract with Affinity Flying Training Services to provide 10 Beechcraft T-6C Texan II military training aircraft to the U.K. Ministry of Defence's Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) program. A second contract has also been signed to include five years of engineering services, parts support, maintenance training and the placement of on-site Field Service Representatives who provide ongoing technical expertise to UKMFTS maintenance personnel.
With deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2018, these aircraft will support team Affinity, a joint venture between Elbit Systems and KBR (Kellogg, Brown and Root), who was selected as the preferred bidder to provide aircraft and maintenance services to the UKMFTS program.
'We are proud to offer the U.K. Ministry of Defense a proven and highly capable solution that will meet their current and future training needs,' said Russ Bartlett, Beechcraft Defense Company. 'We look forward to continuing our successful relationship with the UKMFTS program, providing a superior platform to fill its mission requirements as well as outstanding product support.'
The T-6C trainers will replace Shorts Tucano T1 aircraft and join the fleet of Beechcraft King Air 350ER turboprops, which are already providing live and synthetic radar training for Royal Navy observers as part of the U.K. MFTS Rear Crew Training program.
About the T-6CThe Beechcraft T-6C military trainer is an advanced version of the original T-6A with updated cockpit avionics. In order to replicate today's high-tech frontline aircraft, the new cockpit includes a Head-Up Display (HUD), Up-Front Control Panel (UFCP), three-color Multi-function Displays (MFD), Hands-On Throttle and Stick (HOTAS) as well as advanced synthetic air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons training capabilities. The integrated glass cockpit and a state-of-the-art avionics suite greatly expands its capabilities, enabling the advanced systems and information management skills training required in current and future military aircraft. The T-6C variant maintains avionics similarity with the US Navy's T-6B while incorporating a hard-point wing to allow carriage of external fuel tanks.
Strength of the T-6 platformThe Beechcraft T-6 delivers world-class training capability and is ideally suited for teaching the most basic introductory flight training tasks through the more challenging and complex advanced training missions with low-operating costs. The T-6 is being used to train pilots, navigators, and weapons systems operators from more than 20 countries around the world. To date, Beechcraft has delivered more than 900 T-6 trainers, which have amassed more than 2.6 million flight hours.
Image: UKMFTS T-6C
Web page: Find Beechcraft T-6C information on our website at http://defense.txtav.com/en/t-6c
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About Textron Aviation Inc. Textron Aviation Inc. is the leading general aviation authority and home to the leading Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker brands, which account for more than half of all general aviation aircraft flying. The Textron Aviation companies include Cessna Aircraft Company and Beechcraft Corporation, bringing together decades of unmatched experience in designing, building and supporting airplanes. It provides the most versatile and comprehensive general aviation product portfolio in the world through five principal lines of business: business jets, general aviation and special mission turboprop aircraft, high performance piston aircraft, military trainer and defense aircraft, and a complete global customer service organization. Its broad range of products include such best-selling aircraft as Citation and Hawker business jets, King Air and Caravan turboprops and T-6 military trainer aircraft, all of which are backed by the industry's largest global service network. For more information, visit txtav.com.
About Textron Inc.Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information visit: www.textron.com.
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, changes in aircraft delivery schedules or cancellation or deferral of orders changes in worldwide economic or political conditions that impact demand for our products, interest rates or foreign exchange rates; and changes in foreign military funding priorities or budget constraints and determinations, or changes in government regulations or policies on the export and import of military products.
Media Contact:
Nikki Riemen
+1.316.517.6771
nriemen@txtav.com
txtav.com
Textron Inc. issued this content on 03 February 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 03 February 2016 21:10:32 UTC
Original Document: http://investor.textron.com/newsroom/news-releases/press-release-details/2016/Beechcraft-signs-T-6C-contract-for-the-UK-Military-Flying-Training-System/default.aspx