Beechcraft supplying trainer planes for British program

WICHITA, Kan., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Ten Beechcraft T-6C Texan II military training aircraft are being supplied to Britain's Ministry of Defense under a contract from Affinity Flying Training Services.

Beechcraft Defense, a subsidiary of Textron Aviation, said that under a second contract with Affinity it will also provide five years of engineering services, parts support, maintenance training and the placement of on-site field service representatives for ongoing technical support.

"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."

UKMFTS is the acronym for the U.K. Ministry of Defense's Military Flying Training System program for its military services.

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.

The Beechcraft T-6C military trainer features updated cockpit avionics, three-color multi-function displays, and advanced synthetic air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons training capabilities.

The financial worth of the contract was not disclosed.