Textron receives Iraqi T-6A Texan II refurbishment contract

July 19 (UPI) -- Textron Aviation Defense has been awarded a $8.8 million contract to refurbish 15 T-6A Texan II training aircraft for the Iraqi Air Force, the Department of Defense announced on Tuesday.

The contract falls under foreign military sales and provides for the parts and work needed to reconstitute the Iraqi T-6A fleet for the training of future F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots.

The work will be conducted at Inman Ali Air Base in Iraq and must be completed by the second quarter of 2018 to meet Iraq's demand for F-16 pilots in 2019. Funding in the amount of $8.8 million has been obligated by Iraq.

The T-6A Texan II is a light turboprop training aircraft that is based on Raytheon's Beech/Pilatus PC-9 Mk II. It serves as the basic training platform for Air Force and Navy pilots. It has pilot/instructor seats, is fully acrobatic and has digital avionics and instruments displays.

Iraq has been struggling for years to rebuild its own Air Force despite heavy U.S. assistance and is still highly dependent on U.S. and coalition air support for its battle against the Islamic State. Iraq's primary fighter fleet will be based around the F-16IQ Block 52 multi-role fighter jet, which the Texan II serves as a training platform.