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Beechcraft T-6 Texan II
The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engined, turboprop aircraft built by Textron Aviation. It is a license-built Pilatus PC-9, a trainer aircraft. The T-6 replaced the United States Air Force's Cessna T-37B Tweet and the United States Navy's T-34C Turbo Mentor during the 2010s.
The T-6A is used by the United States Air Force for basic pilot training and combat systems officer training, the United States Navy for primary and intermediate naval flight officer training for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, and by the Royal Canadian Air Force (CT-156 Harvard II designation), Greek Air Force, Israeli Air Force (with the "Efroni" nickname), and Iraqi Air Force for basic flight training. The T-6B is used by the US Navy for primary naval aviator training Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The T-6C is used for training by the Mexican Air Force, Royal Air Force, Royal Moroccan Air Force, and Royal New Zealand Air Force.
The Model 3000/T-6 is a low-wing, cantilever monoplane with enclosed tandem seating. It is powered by a single Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-68 turboprop engine in tractor configuration with an aluminum, 97-inch (8.1 ft; 2.5 m), four-blade, constant-speed, variable pitch, nonreversing, feathering propeller assembly and has retractable tricycle landing gear. The aircraft is fitted with Martin-Baker Mark 16 ejection seats and a canopy-fracturing system.
The T-6 is a development of the Pilatus PC-9, modified by Beechcraft to enter the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) competition in the 1990s. A similar arrangement between Pilatus and British Aerospace had also been in place for a Royal Air Force competition in the 1980s, although that competition selected the Short Tucano. The aircraft was designated under the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system and named for the decades-earlier T-6 Texan.
On 9 April 2007, the U.S. Department of Defense released its Selected Acquisition Reports, which aannounced that the T-6 JPATS program was one of only eight programs cited for congressional notification for 25–50% cost overrun over initial estimates, which is referred to as a "Nunn-McCurdy Breach" after the Nunn-McCurdy Amendment. Not often does a program so far into full-rate production experience significant enough cost overruns to trigger this congressional notification.
The T-6A was introduced to Moody Air Force Base and Randolph Air Force Base in 2000–2001, and the Air Force awarded the full-rate T-6 production contract in December 2001. Laughlin Air Force Base began flying the T-6 in 2003, where it became the primary basic trainer, replacing the T-37. Vance Air Force Base completed transitioning from the T-37 to the T-6 in 2006. That year, Columbus Air Force Base began its transition, and retired its last T-37 in April 2008. The last active USAF T-37Bs were retired at Sheppard Air Force Base in the summer of 2009.
The Texan failed to qualify for the Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance program, because the USAF mailed the exclusion notice to the wrong address, leaving the company with no time to protest the decision, but the official mail failure gave Hawker-Beechcraft a further legal justification, as they had told the USAF they planned to file a legal challenge even before the official notice had been mailed and brought its considerable political influence to bear against the USAF decision against their candidate, with one Kansas Congressman stating, "It is simply wrong for the Obama administration to hire a Brazilian company to handle national security when we have a qualified and competent American company that can do the job." In 2013, Beechcraft again lost the bid.
In August 2017, the Air Force conducted the "Light Attack Experiment" to evaluate potential light-attack aircraft. Following this, it decided to continue experimenting with two nondevelopmental aircraft, the AT-6 Wolverine derivative of the T-6 Texan II and the Sierra Nevada/Embraer A-29 Super Tucano. Tests were scheduled to be conducted at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, between May and July 2018. The tests were intended "to experiment with maintenance, data networking, and sensors...[to] gather the data needed for a rapid procurement", according to Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. Experimentation was to examine logistics requirements, weapons and sensor issues, and future interoperability with partner forces.
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Beechcraft T-6 Texan II AI simulator
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Beechcraft T-6 Texan II
The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engined, turboprop aircraft built by Textron Aviation. It is a license-built Pilatus PC-9, a trainer aircraft. The T-6 replaced the United States Air Force's Cessna T-37B Tweet and the United States Navy's T-34C Turbo Mentor during the 2010s.
The T-6A is used by the United States Air Force for basic pilot training and combat systems officer training, the United States Navy for primary and intermediate naval flight officer training for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, and by the Royal Canadian Air Force (CT-156 Harvard II designation), Greek Air Force, Israeli Air Force (with the "Efroni" nickname), and Iraqi Air Force for basic flight training. The T-6B is used by the US Navy for primary naval aviator training Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The T-6C is used for training by the Mexican Air Force, Royal Air Force, Royal Moroccan Air Force, and Royal New Zealand Air Force.
The Model 3000/T-6 is a low-wing, cantilever monoplane with enclosed tandem seating. It is powered by a single Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-68 turboprop engine in tractor configuration with an aluminum, 97-inch (8.1 ft; 2.5 m), four-blade, constant-speed, variable pitch, nonreversing, feathering propeller assembly and has retractable tricycle landing gear. The aircraft is fitted with Martin-Baker Mark 16 ejection seats and a canopy-fracturing system.
The T-6 is a development of the Pilatus PC-9, modified by Beechcraft to enter the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) competition in the 1990s. A similar arrangement between Pilatus and British Aerospace had also been in place for a Royal Air Force competition in the 1980s, although that competition selected the Short Tucano. The aircraft was designated under the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system and named for the decades-earlier T-6 Texan.
On 9 April 2007, the U.S. Department of Defense released its Selected Acquisition Reports, which aannounced that the T-6 JPATS program was one of only eight programs cited for congressional notification for 25–50% cost overrun over initial estimates, which is referred to as a "Nunn-McCurdy Breach" after the Nunn-McCurdy Amendment. Not often does a program so far into full-rate production experience significant enough cost overruns to trigger this congressional notification.
The T-6A was introduced to Moody Air Force Base and Randolph Air Force Base in 2000–2001, and the Air Force awarded the full-rate T-6 production contract in December 2001. Laughlin Air Force Base began flying the T-6 in 2003, where it became the primary basic trainer, replacing the T-37. Vance Air Force Base completed transitioning from the T-37 to the T-6 in 2006. That year, Columbus Air Force Base began its transition, and retired its last T-37 in April 2008. The last active USAF T-37Bs were retired at Sheppard Air Force Base in the summer of 2009.
The Texan failed to qualify for the Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance program, because the USAF mailed the exclusion notice to the wrong address, leaving the company with no time to protest the decision, but the official mail failure gave Hawker-Beechcraft a further legal justification, as they had told the USAF they planned to file a legal challenge even before the official notice had been mailed and brought its considerable political influence to bear against the USAF decision against their candidate, with one Kansas Congressman stating, "It is simply wrong for the Obama administration to hire a Brazilian company to handle national security when we have a qualified and competent American company that can do the job." In 2013, Beechcraft again lost the bid.
In August 2017, the Air Force conducted the "Light Attack Experiment" to evaluate potential light-attack aircraft. Following this, it decided to continue experimenting with two nondevelopmental aircraft, the AT-6 Wolverine derivative of the T-6 Texan II and the Sierra Nevada/Embraer A-29 Super Tucano. Tests were scheduled to be conducted at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, between May and July 2018. The tests were intended "to experiment with maintenance, data networking, and sensors...[to] gather the data needed for a rapid procurement", according to Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. Experimentation was to examine logistics requirements, weapons and sensor issues, and future interoperability with partner forces.