April 17 (UPI) -- Beechcraft Defense received a $60.5 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to support the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System.
The program is associated with the procurement of T-6 Texan II trainer aircraft, a platform used to train Air Force and U.S. Navy pilots. Services will include program management, engineering, sustainment, deficiency reporting, and maintenance.
The company will also provide diminishing manufacturing sources, technical manual updates, data management and mechanical structural integrity efforts.
Beechcraft will perform the services at its facility in Wichita, Kansas, and is expected to complete its tasks by the end of April 2021.
The enterprise received $9.2 million in fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance funds at the time of the contracting award. The project will be managed by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.
The T-6 Texan II is a single-engine, two seat aircraft initially produced by Raytheon Aircraft. It is based on the civilian aircraft Pilatus PC-9 Mk II. The unarmed plane is capable of flying at 320 miles per hour at a range of 900 nautical miles.
