First Foreign Military Sales Case contract for world’s most proven military training program

14:03 GMT, August 25, 2009 WICHITA, Kan. | Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) was recently awarded a contract to provide the T-6A trainer aircraft – the world’s most proven military training program – to the Israeli Air Force. This is the first Foreign Military Sales Case contract for HBC. HBC was awarded the contract directly from the United States Government as a result of a government-to-government agreement between Israel and the U.S, allowing for the provision of these aircraft to the Israeli government.

“This contract represents several significant milestones for HBC and we are pleased to accept the award from the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” said Jim Maslowski, president, U.S. and International Government Business. “Hawker Beechcraft offers the most sophisticated military training programs and operations, and the inherent training and flying capabilities of the T-6A Texan II make it the most successful primary trainer in the world.”

The contract also includes ground based training systems (GBTS) and technical publications. The Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) will establish separate contracts with HBC for any post delivery programs, engineering support and post delivery modifications that are needed.

The Beechcraft T-6 offers military organizations worldwide the most proven and most cost-effective training system available today. The T-6 is a primary trainer aircraft that accommodates instruction in instrument flight procedures and basic aerial maneuvers. The aircraft delivers an outstanding training program that includes more than 155 hours of flight time. To date, it has been used to train pilots in approximately 20 different countries. The HBC military training platform also recently achieved significant milestones when the T-6 reached one million flight hours and delivery of the 500th T-6 airplane occurred.

The T-6A is currently in service as the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy’s Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) aircraft. In addition, it is the primary, weapons and navigation trainer for the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program and the Hellenic Air Force of Greece. HBC and its predecessor company have delivered more than 500 aircraft and 90 aircrew training devices to various major training installations throughout the U.S. since these deliveries began in 2000.