King Aerospace receives EO-5 aircraft contract

June 19 (UPI) -- King Aerospace has received a $15 million contract modification for EO-5 Army reconnaissance aircraft logistical support.

The work will be conducted at Ft. Bliss, Texas, with an expected completion date of December 2017. Fiscal 2017 Army operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $7 million were obligated upon the award.

The EO-5 is a de Havilland Canada DHC-7 regional turboprop airliner modified for military use. It is a signal intercept and sensor platform capable of monitoring all radio frequencies. Its high resolution infrared and optical sensors are capable of tracking ground targets and personnel, and are powerful enough to be able to track footprints in sand.

The EO-5 falls into the same Special Electronic Mission Aircraft category as the RC-12 and B-300 signals and reconnaissance planes. The signals intercepts gathered can be used for location and targeting purposes as well as more conventional intelligence operations. SEMA aircraft have seen extensive use in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and other theatres.